paterfamilias
As I sat down to work today, a middle aged black man sitting in front of a small gideon bible looked up at me and my stack of books. "You reading all those?" he asked. I nodded.
"That looks like a lot of work."
"It can be, sometimes."
"You studying history?"
"Yeah. African history in the 1800s."
"That's real important stuff."
He then pulled out a series of color photographs. "I went to Chicago this weekend. For my birthday. I'm 56 now."
"My dad just turned 56 this year."
"He's lucky to have a son like you. I'd be proud."
I excused myself and went to the restroom.