The Gift of Gab

 The Gift of Gab

My husband could carry on incredibly long conversations with people he had never met before. Even on the telephone. He had never had qualms about calling even the most important people for the minutest shred of information that he needed. I've been known to ask unbelievingly, "You're calling the (celebrity, politician, CEO) for that?" Not surprisingly, with his winning approach, he usually got the answer he wanted.

He had recently assumed the duty of choosing the name of a local pastor and a missionary for prayer by the congregation on Sunday mornings. That Saturday night I saw him perusing the ministry list, then heard him talking animatedly on the phone. He had recognized a familiar surname of a pastor and wondered if he were related to a minister he used to know by that same name and church affiliation in a neighboring town.

He talked so long and familiarly with someone, that after he hung up, I asked, "So he was related to your friend?"

"No! That list is out-of-date," he said, shaking his head. "The person I talked to doesn't eve live here anymore. He has a church in Kansas now."

"So what were you talking about so long," I wondered.

"Well, he knows a man that used to go to that church. In fact, this guy moved to that area and now goes to his church. Besides that, (the newcomer) knows (John) and (Bill) that I used to know well!" He proceeded to tell me of an inter-connecting string of people and events that was the topic of their whole conversation.

Howard had been on the phone all evening, it seemed, and we were just preparing for bed when the phone rang again. Another spirited, jocular, interchange ensued for so long that I went to bed.

"Why did he call back?" I asked when he finally got off the phone.

"That wasn't him, that was the other guy! The pastor gave him my number. You wouldn't believe all the same people that we know!" Yes, I would. Howard had lived around here all his life, going to school, having jobs, and meeting many people while working at the family grocery store.

Though I might have found my husband's effusiveness a little exasperating sometimes, I couldn't complain, for the qualities that other people liked about him are the same ones that drew me to him in the first place. I think most people would agree with me that when it came to Howard, "To know him was to love him."

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