Pablo and Aboss

"Don’t talk to strangers kids… or do.”

Being “stranded” in a snowstorm isn’t ideal for spending a day. However, I will admit it indeed makes for an exciting story.

Now I must start out by saying I wasn’t completely stranded. Maybe for a few hours while I navigated where I would sleep that night but allow me to start from the beginning.

This short trip was nothing but slight road bump after road bump, if I’m truly being honest here. What I would have liked to have been a fantastic trip out to the DC/MD area just seemed like a trip maybe I never should have planned, granted in the end, I was thrilled I did, but I kept feeling it wasn’t meant to be. Some were begging me to come, others saying they “couldn’t make time,” and the list slightly goes on. But the reality was I had a ticket purchased, and I was going to use it whether or not I would enjoy my time with friends or on my own in a city I love.

As the trip closely approached, covid numbers on the rise, flight cancelations, winter storm warnings, and those I was planning to hang with coming down with a bug, reasons to cancel just kept piling up. But I wasn’t about to budge. I wanted to go, I wanted to see “my people,” and well, I just knew there was a reason not to cancel.

Thursday before my trip, things still seemed dicey; I was unsure if I had a ride out of the city or, well, any plans at all for that matter. Finally, however, I hopped on the first flight out of Dayton and headed to DC. Upon arrival, I sat and waited for a metro for 40mins in the freezing cold, completely under-dressed, I may add, and never having ridden public transportation on my own before. After answering a few work calls, I hopped on the blue line and headed for the city! Or so I thought…

“Last stop! We’ve reached the end of the line and will head back in approximately 3minutes.”

Umm, excuse me what???

Come to find out; I got on the right metro… just in the wrong direction. UGH now, not only was I wholly lost, had no plans, but I was also now about to miss a work meeting. The conductor dude (I guess that's what they are called) assured me I was now, in fact, going the right way. HUGE relief.

Partway through my ride, I learned that my friend was feeling better and heading down to my rescue!

Ironically, I emerged out of the metro station and walked right into a homeless community. The day before, I had told my team that I was most likely going to spend the weekend sleeping in a tent in the homeless community. Trying to walk through the roundabout with a straight face after sending a picture to my team was nearly impossible. Fun fact, years before, I got stuck driving around the same roundabout wishing I was living in one of the tents because driving was stressing me out, LOL.

After spending the morning working from Ebenezers Coffee (HIGHLY recommended if you’re in DC), Bella arrived! Picking me up on a street corner nonetheless. Seemed only fitting. We had a lovely afternoon enjoying each other's company, walking around, jumping on random metros to stay warm, and enjoying the National Art Gallery before meeting up with Kristen for dinner.

Slight transparency here for a minute… and to set the stage for who Pablo and Aboss are, I know you’re just dying to know who they are; I must be honest with my followers for a moment. To keep the story short, 2021 didn’t end too hot, and 2022 hasn’t started out the strongest for me. Many things have happened in recent weeks/months that brought up some past hurts. With that being said, I’ve felt an assortment of ways, abandoned, unloved, unworthy, and like I’m the center of all things wrong. Quite frankly, my heartfelt wounded all over again. I’d been telling myself I don’t want love, I don’t want to open up to anyone again, and I’m better off just alone. In some ways, it just felt like during this trip, I was unwanted yet again when in reality, it was all probably just in my own head after everything I’d been going through. At least if that was the case, everyone sure did make me feel welcome. Even more so, I can’t thank my friend Bella enough for the car ride convo that put me in tears, good tears. Bella, if you are reading this, thank you for everything you said that night, and thank you for being amazing! You have no idea how much I needed you.

Now let’s get back to the snowstorm.

Sunday afternoon, my friends dropped me off at a Metro to ride into DC before the snowstorm hit. Yet again, I was tasked with getting on the metro with no place to actually go this time. I game-planned how to spend my day, a place to store my luggage, and possible hotels. However, I knew a guy in the area who could help me out. Shoutout to Mark for contacting a super excellent realtor for me who was ready to help! The snow was coming down heavy by this time, and I walked the snow-covered streets, luggage in tow. After dropping my bags, a friend messaged me to get to their house; however, I didn’t want to impose, so I waited to see if this guy could find me a place. I finally caved and went to my friends when mid-walk I learned that the possible locations for me to stay fell through, but he wasn’t giving up. I thanked him and explained I had, long story short, found a place.

I couldn’t be more thankful for Kristen taking me in that night! It was a cold one! After a warm cup of tea, Kristen had a dinner to attend, so I decided to go on an adventure and enjoy the snow-covered city. Well, and find my luggage and food, LOL.

As I strolled the city, I couldn’t help but be in awe of the beauty! DC has always been breathtaking to me but covered in snow under the lights took it away all over again! The families sledding on the Capital Ground, snowball fights on the mall, and couples holding hands as they walked was something spectacular! I couldn’t help but close my eyes at one point and take in the silence of the night with the joyful noises that filled the background and just simply BE IN THE MOMENT. It was just what I needed!

Eventually, I made my way to the Lincoln Memorial (one of my favorite views in the city). To stand where MLKJ did the day before MLK JR Day had me speechless. To capture the moment, I asked these two guys (maybe 2 of the whole 5 people out there) to take my picture.

THIS IS WHERE THE REAL STORY BEGINS!

After taking my picture, we talked about why we were there and where we were from for a moment. Then, before leaving, I asked if they could recommend a place to eat. They recommended a bar that may have been one of the only places still open at that point. So, I started walking there. Now, DC has this particular mandate in place that people like me can’t eat in their restaurants because we don’t have the “golden ticket,” so I fully expected to get turned away when I got there.

Halfway through my walk, I crossed over the street and ran into none other than the two guys I had just met!

Okay, most would think this is creepy, but these guys not only looked cool, but they were also grad school students studying security and working with juveniles that just got out of the prison system. One’s from Miami (this was his first time seeing snow) and the other New Jersey.

“HEY!” They said as we ran into each other. “We’re going to _____!”

“HEY! Me too! Y’all recommended it, so I thought I’d try it.”

The taller, skinnier guy said, “By the way, we never exchanged names. He’s Pablo, and I’m Aboss. What’s your name?”

“Okay awesome names! I’m Cheyenne.”

We proceeded to walk and talk, getting to know each other. I know you’re probably thinking, “CHEYENNE, you just met up with the mob! RUN!” LOL, but trust me, they were chill!

The next thing I knew, we were walking into the sports bar, and they were getting a table for three. Umm, okay, well to my surprise I was now eating with them…

I told the lady I didn’t have my “golden ticket” and how I was stranded there for the night blah blah blah. The guys assured her I had one at home and was okay because they wouldn’t be caught hanging out with someone who didn’t have the “golden ticket.” At this point, these guys just saved my butt from being back in the cold and what was now rain foodless. What are the chances?!

Conversations about work, travel, and random things filled the table. We laughed and had a great time! Then, we paid our bills, walked out, and went our separate ways. Never exchanging socials or phone numbers. Which is a wild concept these days.

Will I ever see these two again? Probably not. But they were clearly placed in my path that night for some reason, and I firmly believe it was to teach me a lesson.

Sometimes, I believe God places the most random people in our paths at just the right time to teach us little lessons. There are even times I wonder if those situations are even real. Now yes, that all did, in fact, happen. But, I also wonder if they were some type of angles God sent to me that night to get me off the streets to a warm place, so nothing bad happened. These are some of the things I’ll ask God about one day.

In this case, God was teaching me something important. Over the last weeks/months, my heart has grown hard. Because of hurt, I didn’t want to love on people, talk to strangers or even love again, for that matter. I was tired of pouring out. As weird as it may sound, I didn’t want any friends or make new ones, for that matter. But what I realized as I look back is loving comes naturally for me. I don’t know a stranger. Here I’ve felt unwanted as a friend and much more, but I meet two new “friends” on this very night, just like I do on most of my adventures. They didn’t have to invite me to eat with them, but they did.

Sometimes, even though we may not feel loved or like even loving ourselves, and unnoticed, there are people out there that do love and care about us. They just might not show how we expect. Past hurts can control you at times but don’t them sink you. Most importantly, when you’re learning how to love yourself and be alone, that doesn’t mean you have to push everything out. Because someone out there needs a friend, and you could be the one that they need.

Usually, I try to be the friend everyone needs. Meeting strangers and starting random conversations, loving random people here and there. But on that night, I was the one that needed a friend. I genuinely believe God saw that, and in a bizarre way, he knew I needed Pablo and Aboss that night. I can’t begin to explain their impact on my life that night.

After, dinner I retrieved my luggage and headed back to Kristen’s for some rest before my flight. The walk back was quite wet and cold, but the warmth in my heart was far more significant.

My parent’s always taught me never to talk to strangers, but for me, strangers are just people I haven’t met yet.

I may have had an eventful, full of unknowns kind of trip, but I couldn’t be more thankful for good friends and Pablo and Aboss!

-Cheyenne