I am trying to recall the events as best as I can. While all of the details are factual, they may not be chronologically correct. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent

Sometime in August, I ran into AE again. Only this time he didn’t have hair! He was completely clean shaven. I mentioned it instantly and he shrugged it off as no big deal. We talked and he smiled and I smiled back. I asked him his name and the correct pronunciation. It’s Ah-Day-Whoa-Lay. I asked him if I could call him Ah-Day. He said he didn’t mind. At the end of the conversation, I gave him my card after I finished checking out.This also conveniently contained my phone number, but he didn’t call.

The handsome Ade with a clean cut!

The next time I went to the library, he was there. I had a  bit of an attitude. I tried to play it off like I was unbothered that he had not called in the week since receiving my business card. I was  just there for my routine check out of books and it just so happened he was there ( I found out later that it wasn’t even one of his scheduled days to work). He smiled and made conversation asking how my day was and what I’d been up to lately. ( How dare he ask how I was doing when he had not called) I gave him short answers. Then out of the blue a patron ( let’s call him John) I recognized from the theatre came up to the desk and  greeted me with a bear hug.  Turns out Ade knew him, too. The thing about this patron is he was someone who was frequently looked over and brushed aside. He had a learning disability and frequently asked for “donations” and  some he encountered didn’t have the patience to deal with him. Ade smiled and asked John, ” How ya doing, my friend?”  I got a glimpse of his heart right there. My attitude faded away and the door was opened to more conversations and some of the best times of my life…