small things that make a big difference

growing up i didn't have a very smooth childhood but one of my most vivid memories was on the 1st day of primary school final exams. for reasons i wouldn't want to go back to i could not have an umbrella from the house even though it was raining heavily outside.

my school was about a mile away give or take and rather than be late for the exam i opted to walk to school in the rain. then i didn't seem  so bad to walk in the rain before sunrise as it does now but i guess you think your mum is the best cook till you travel.

so anyway there i was walking in the rain trying to remember what i'd been taught for most of my life when a guy in a suite and a nice big umbrella runs up to me from behind and covers me in it.

 not bothering to ask why i was walking in the rain, this neighbor of mine that I'd seen a couple of times around the block,walked me all the way to my school with his umbrella and walked back almost halfway back to where he was to pick his bus.

on the way we spoke about a lot of things with Ken (that's what his name was) and then eventually when we got to my school gate he asked me what i wanted t be when i grew up...i wanted to be a lawyer.

as other parents dropped their children in big cars as it was custom in my over-priced private school, Ken ushered me in still holding the umbrella on my head and sometimes letting himself be rained on.

for the rest of the exam week, i would walk with ken me to school and him to his bus stop and he told me about lawyers and high school and college. from the 1st day of our meeting and for the rest of the few days that i knew ken he wouldn't refer to me by name but rather he'd call me "lawyer".

after my exam week i didn't see him much probably because of work and a while later he moved out from my building while i was away for the holidays. i went off to high school and never saw him again.

years later i don't remember ken's 2nd name or if he'd even told it to me. i don't remember what he did or his house number. i don't remember his voice and i sure as rain don't remember what he looked or looks like.
maybe the worst part is that i have since lost all interest in law and is doing a whole different thing.

there's one thing i will never forget though, is the stranger who fathered me for a week or so when i had no one else. i probably owe what i am now to that man Ken.