Still Standing

Erev Succos is a busy time in most households. Between last-minute succah decorating, juggling work in the kitchen, and occupying the kids running underfoot, it’s hardly a day for social niceties.
But for the past 17 years without fail, my phone rings on Erev Succos, and my kids call out, “Ma, it’s Avremi G.”
I drop whatever I’m doing and sit down on the couch for a few minutes to exchange good-Yom-Tovs. We are not related, and we’ve never met, yet we have an intriguing bond that’s renewed annually on Erev Succos.
It all started 25 years ago, when I was childless and very, very bored. I had purchased a home computer to play games after work.
One of the few things that kept me going at the time was music, and I was itching to find a forum to discuss my love for all things Jewish music. So, I founded an email-based discussion group for other aficionados of the Jewish music scene. Most of the participants were young secretaries with email access and free time on their hands. But before long, composers and producers caught wind of this new Yahoo group and started sending me new releases to write up. I didn’t make any money running the group, but I absolutely loved it; it put my writing skills to good use, and I made many new, lifelong friends.
The group was active for about five years, during which time I interacted via email with many of the greats in the Jewish music universe in the early aughts. (This was before it was dominated by chassidish singers.) Eventually, Hashem blessed me to join the ranks of motherhood, and the need to keep myself occupied with stimulating pursuits went by the wayside. I handed the reins of the email group over to someone else and moved on.
I was therefore surprised to receive an email two years later from Avremi Gourarie, the well-known music arranger, with whom I’d communicated before about various music-related topics. He asked me for my phone number, as he had something to discuss and a request to make. I was surprised but curious. I had no way of knowing that this phone call would set forth a new chain of events and change my life.