I finally found a name and was in the middle of dialing when something started ringing a bell. Why did this name sound so familiar? I plugged the name into Google and found the information for the woman’s levayah. That’s the problem with old phone books.

Hurdle 3: Finding a person in said phonebook who’s actually okay with the idea

The first number I finally called is now a plumbing service’s phone number. (Anyone in Brooklyn need a recommendation? They sounded nice.)

The second number I tried didn’t answer, so I played detective and found her work email address online. She emailed back to say that I probably wanted to reach her mother-in-law — and what was this article about?

I gave her a quick summary: We were testing a premise that everyone had a story through this interesting phone-book project. I explained that my pin had landed on her.

I haven’t heard from her since.

The third woman I called thought I wanted to sell her a Mishpacha subscription. When I explained the article idea to her, she still wasn’t convinced I didn’t want her money, but was surprisingly willing to meet a stranger.

I guess it’s good all eateries are outdoors these days.

Hurdle 4: Getting said person’s story

Here’s the thing: having a story is a personality type. When my brothers go on walks together, one will come back with hysterical tales of what he saw and heard. The other? He’ll have nothing more to say than “hi.”

In short, my lady was very sweet. Within ten minutes of the conversation, in the truest of Jewish fashions, she’d already found all the people we knew in common and promised to find a shidduch for my single relative.

“I’m not so good at that,” she told me, “but my son is. I’m going to ask him for ideas.”

Then, for two hours, she told me about her days as a seamstress and how much she loves her children, but we never came across a moment that screamed “Follow me! I’m a story!”

I tried following up after our interview to poke for more details, but she didn’t answer my calls. Once again, I was ghosted, but not without the woman’s final words ringing in my ears.

“Send me the résumé! I’m going to make this shidduch!”

In short, I called countless random numbers, met a stranger for lunch, played Jewish geography — and all I got for it was this sidebar. But maybe, just maybe, we’re yet to get a shidduch out of it too.

I’ll keep you posted.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 712)