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| pc: Wheaton College |
It was early in the afternoon, and I was the lone parent in the waiting room of the Music School.
Entry door opened; I got up to take a look.
I did not recognize the man -- short, stocky -- wearing a light-coloured coat; peering into the empty practice rooms.
He stopped and smiled when he caught a glimpse of me.
"Where is the owner?" he asked.
I gave directions to the outside stairs which lead to the owners' residence.
"Uhmmm....what's her name?"
I said her first name.
"Are YOU one of the teachers?"
No. Did he want someone in particular?
"Never mind. So the stairs are where??"
They're outside of the front doors, to the left.
He smiled once again and exited.
My anxiety level suddenly shot up.
I hurriedly found my cell phone and called my husband.
I paced from hallway to the waiting room, and back again, as I explained the situation.
He was just as perplexed as me; but after five minutes I'd calmed down enough, 'tho still feeling wary, to hang up.
I continued to wait.
Don, the school co-owner walked in through the back door.
Did a man show up at their front door about 10 minutes ago?
"What man? I didn't see anyone?" he answered.
Once again, I felt anxious.
"Let me go back upstairs and ask my wife."
I waited for his return, all the while thinking that the Music School needed a better security system.
A camera by the door? Doors that lock behind you?
A Guard? One can never be too sure in today's society.
Don returned with the missing pieces to the puzzle.
Don's wife had given a donation months (years?) ago to AA.
The stranger had remembered her (tho' not her name).
He had successfully completed the
Alcoholics Anonymous program.
He's sober. He's happy. Most of all, he's thankful.
And that's why he'd shown up at the Music School.
Talk about misjudging a fellow!!
12.8.23.18
