“We are in the business of relationships” Rabbi Paul Steinberg from Congregation Kol Shofar always told me.  And he’s not wrong. “I’ve been doing this my whole life,” I thought!  It all comes down to who you know… truly. 

Last week at my teen youth program when we were discussing famous Jewish and people of color, the students asked me who the most famous person I ever met was. Was it the time I (think) I almost dated Max Greenfield from The New Girl?  No…That may or may not have been a catfish. Was it the time I had lunch in New York with the legendary talk show host Phil Donahue? Nope. (He was super cranky! But at least he paid.) 

It was most definitely the time that I was fortunate enough to meet the iconic Beatle, Ringo Starr in Chicago in 2003. 

We were celebrating my father Norman’s 47th birthday with my stepmother Adina (who I introduced to my dad after my parents divorced) and my brothers Adam and Netanel.  Now nobody loves The Beatles more than Norman!  His new wife, Adina (I call her my other mother), has a brother who is a Rabbi in Israel and happened to be friends with Ringo’s manager who was also an Orthodox Jew. (Ari and the manager were friends in high school at a yeshiva.)  Adina reached out to the manager who said yes, we could meet Ringo before the concert, during the VIP meet-n-greet.  Adina asked him if there was anything that we could do to repay him, and he said “It would be great if you could bring me a kosher sandwich. I only eat Kosher food”. So we went to Ken’s Kosher Deli in Chicago. We were trying at the same time to surprise my father by meeting Ringo, so we had to hide the sandwich on the way to the concert and smuggle it into the show! Quite fun for a 17-year-old.  Norm sensed that there was a surprise in store, and he wrongly guessed that my grandparents were going to be meeting us there for the concert. Little did he know that it was actually Ringo who we were there to see. 

We were the last people in line with the radio ticket winners for the special meet-n-greet and we got to shake Ringo’s hand and take this photo with him.  Ringo didn’t say much, he mumbled something about the song The Beatles sing about Kansas City, and we asked him if he was going to play it, to which he replied “Maybe.” (He didn’t). 

But it didn’t matter. We met RINGO STARR! Thanks to a sandwich, and an old friend from college type of connection.

It wasn’t until many years later, reflecting on this event, coupled with so many other rich experiences that have happened to me over the years, that I fully realized the value of investing in relationships.  You never know what you invest in in the present and how it might later impact your future… what kind of job opportunities might raise your resume to the top of the stack because of who you kept up with from college, or who on your social media friend’s list might see a post of yours and offer up some brilliant information or resource, all because you thought to ask, and they cared enough to stay in touch and nurture that relationship. 

Many years later, I was working on my 3rd hip-hop album and I wanted to write a hip-hop song that my dad, one of my favorite people in the world, could relate to.   I wanted to show him how the beauty of poetry and words could be so powerful, and I thought about how much my father loves The Beatles. So I went and compiled all of The Beatles song titles I could find in a list and started editing them into a story.  What fell out was, to this date, probably the most proud piece of work I have ever channeled as an artist. I called it, “Let It Beatles”, and it’s a story composed almost entirely of Beatles song titles: 

These things happened in my life because of the meaningful relationships I have chosen to invest in. During the decade I previously worked at my current place of employment as a Communications Associate, I strived to form and maintain these kinds of relationships with our staff and community. I stepped in as needed, covering youth group programs and social justice initiatives that were not specifically part of my job, but needed to get done nonetheless.  Last year, when I was looking at returning to Kansas City from San Francisco, I like to believe that it was many of these previous relationships that helped me secure this director position in my current role.

Who knows who I might meet next!?

Check out “Let It Beatles” the poetic Tribute by Sara Nicole Glass Listen to the song here: http://bit.ly/LetItBeatles202

All of these stories are true, and I have been so blessed by so many incredible relationships.  (Now if somebody could let John Mayor know that there is a nice Jewish Girl in Kansas City who is still single and looking, that would be great, thanks 😉

Oh so sincerely,
MissConception