Once upon a time in Cabo, our only FM local radio station cut the English programming. A dear friend of mine Carol, had been a regular contributor and saw the need to fill that gap and was the brainchild behind the startup of an internet radio station. She approached several people she felt might be interested and that would be able to offer diverse content. It was brilliant. I drew the short straw and ended up as the station manager. Sorry 😐
Many people, always confuse the pronunciation… it is not live as in alive, but as in living, because we are living and breathing and bringing the sounds of Cabo San Lucas, 365 days of the year to the internet. The music – eclectic, as if you were walking along the marina, the beach … passing by all of the different restaurants and bars during the day – none of that night time techno stuff. We even had a daily show called Beer Thirty where we’d play nothing but songs about drinking, vacationing, Cabo … Content was mostly music but included weather, real estate, dive condition, fishing – you name it.
One day, maybe out of boredom, I googled us to see if we’d pop up in a search engine and found out of all places, a link to Facebook popped up on my screen and a man named John telling people in a Facebook group that if they were missing Cabo as much as he was, to “tune in” to an internet radio station as it’s what he did to get through his workday. Ahhhhhh …. a light went off. He must’ve been where all the listening hours were getting logged in from in Oregon. Cool. Totally awesome that someone was diggin’ us enough to promote us but more importantly, how touching that we were there with him all day long.
Some of the other members of this FB group wanted to start their own radio station but John said no. The whole point of their group at least in part, was to support existing businesses in Cabo, not become reclusive. Awe!❤ “We should have our own bar” NO. “We should have our own restaurant”. NO. Go forth and support the town we all love, he declared. There were no cliques …just a group of friends. They were all the “in crowd” amongst each other. The Caboholic were/are also reeeeally into giving back to the community in Cabo San Lucas. Hmmmm … must investigate some more. So, I joined the group. The group – the Caboholics. Heck, someone even wrote a song about them!
Featuring a few of the original Caboholic Members …
OMG so much fun! If you were “at home” wishing you were in Cabo, sneaking FB at the office … you could pop in to this group and see fun pictures people were posting while on vacation tooootally rubbing it in (or sharing, because as my friend Kristin likes to say, they are givers like that) that they were here and you were not. 😛 Pictures at the beach, pictures fishing, pictures of the infamous rainbow shots at Rips … pictures of themselves meeting new people who were just like them. In what way? Spreading the wealth. On a regular basis, I’d see pictures of people packing an extra suitcase just to bring things to the kids, or the furkids at the shelter … while on vacation, tipping heavily, they were giving back to the very community that made their vacation in Cabo so memorable. Many posted these pictures, while listening together from coast to coast, a tiny little online radio station, they were listening, to us. They were bonding, becoming a family, and they included us while they packed their bags, and when they returned home to drown in their sorrows after doing the walk of shame back to “real” life.
No offense Miguel Hill … but I think you got it wrong at least in part. Being a Caboholic isn’t about 2-1 drinks or a big margarita in your hand … though there is much truth to many about dreaming of never going home again. They aren’t just Caboholic friends, they are a family. A very charitable family.
Few will remember this, but I’ll never forget when the Caboholic Facebook Group threw a surprise virtual retirement party for John and Maddie. I think every member of our then small group were in attendance. From coast to coast and from the three countries, people posted pics of themselves with a drink in hand, or if they were shy … a shot glass filled with tequila, bottles of beer, glasses of wine … to toast them. Live Cabo Radio was there, we DJ’d the event and had a sing a long, the first of many more to come. Such a cool thing for us, to be together albeit virtually, with a group of people listening to our music, singing (typing) along to the songs we played, and drinking. Funny thing about surprise parties. The guests of honors kinda need to be in attendance! Turns out, they were at a birthday party for one of their grandkids and came home late, to see we trashed the “house”. 😇 #sorrynotsorry
Soon after that, Carol started a mid-morning radio show much like Beer Thirty but only better. Caboholics were emailing her audio MP3 files confessing to be Caboholics and it was so freaking fun. It was called the Caboholic Support Hour (and a half)
As it turns out, I kinda already knew John’s wife Maddie as well as several other members of this group addicted to Cabo San Lucas. We’d already “met” on Trip Advisor. So when they decided to have a mini convention in the summer for those that couldn’t make the February one or couldn’t wait LOL, I couldn’t resist meeting my new friends turned family in person. It was the 4th of July. I met many life long friends that night.
Twice before moving to Cabo, John put in a song request.
The first:
and the second:
I pretty much learned all I needed to know about John from those two songs, or so I thought. John never called me by my name, he called me sweetheart with a father like affectionate tone in his voice though I’m sure he did the same with many others that came to know him fondly. John and Maddie had been living in Cabo for a while and missing their blooded kin, but when their pending visit home meant they’d miss my wedding, they postponed it. Who does that? Family does that. I don’t think I ever told them what that meant to me …
We’ve been through a lot together. Joy, sorrow, cat herding, disasters …
Last Sunday, I was in bed not feeling well, same as today. In bed. Sick. Again. Or maybe it’s heartache today … back to last Sunday. I awoke from a nap and checked in with the world via my iPad. My friend John, according to notifications had posted something on his wall! Yay … he’d been having health issues and I was super happy he was well enough to post, except he didn’t. It was his death announcement 😩💔 I popped over to the Caboholic Facebook Group page and the virtual toasting … reminiscent of the retirement party, everyone was in attendance, had commenced, to honor John’s memory. There was no singing.
First feelings were anger. It’s one of the things I hate most about FB. No one calls each other any more. Then shock. I’ve been in shock ever since.
Today, I’m in mourning.
And wouldn’t you know it … there is a party going on in Cabo. Today, is the registration for the Caboholic’s 6th annual convention. Registration is closed, but these are the activities you are missing out on if you aren’t here http://www.caboholics.com/2017-registration.html
6th annual … from a handful of people to a group nearing ten thousand members.
What a legacy.
John was a great story teller. I wish I could do his memory justice.
I wish, I could play one more song for him.
~Jennifer
