October 22, 2009 | 2:31 pm

Groupies

Posted by Ilana Angel

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I woke up early this morning and by early I mean I did not sleep well and was up at the crack of dawn so as soon as the sun made an appearance I went for a walk.  I walked for about an hour and a half and ended up at the Starbucks a few blocks from my home.

I’m in line listening to Rush belt out Tom Sawyer on my iPod when the man in front of me backs up and knocks into me.  I turn off my music to accept his apology and we start chatting.  He is a very elegant man who is handsome in a beautiful suit with kind eyes and looks to be in his 60’s. 

We get to the front of the line and he orders his coffee and says he’d like to buy mine.  I assure him he did not break anything when he backed into me but he insists and buys me a cup of tea.  We chat while we wait and he invites me to sit for a minute so we find a couple of chairs.

He asks me what my name is and when I tell him Ilana he says he thought so and asked me if I actually keep the faith or if it was just a clever title that I made up.  Yes indeed my darlings my 15 minutes have officially begun because I have a groupie and he is adorable.

For people who know me, when they read my blog they hear my voice as they read it and I think it makes sense because they read it exactly as it was written.  It was interesting to hear how it is perceived by someone who does not know me and hears it in his or her own voice not mine.

According to my groupie I am funny and charming but have an edge that is coming across as loneliness.  He said I was entertaining and that I have a romantic view of life, which he admired, and he thought it was impressive that I am so authentic.

When you write from home and send your words out into the universe it’s weird because there are so many people reading your work but you really don’t know how your message is received and while I get lovely feedback from people I also get a lot of nastiness from a lot of nasty people.

I want to give a special shout out to “Harold”.  You made my day and I’m so glad we met.  Thank you for the tea and the lovely conversation.  You are adorable and I appreciate you taking the time to share your morning with me and it was wonderful to have my work recognized. 

I called Harold a fan and he insisted that he be referred to as a groupie, which is just too cute.  I appreciate that “20 years is a drop in the bucket” and I am flattered that you asked me out for dinner. You are a charming and delicious man.

Thanks to everyone who reads my blog.  I really do enjoy writing it and I’m glad that you are enjoying it.  If it makes you laugh, cry, happy or pissed off it’s all good because it is making you feel something and that means that I’ve done my job as a writer.

Keeping the Faith is a clever name for a blog about being single and looking for love with someone who shares my faith but is also something that I do on a daily basis to deal with the fact that I am single and looking for love with someone who shares my faith.  Whatever your faith is, keep it close.