Andres Gnecco

How a little black book changed my life forever

A person's life can change drastically in a matter of seconds. That is exactly what happened to me. Right after college I moved into a bachelor apartment building above a store in the middle of downtown. Rent was cheap, there weren't many amenities other than an awesome clawfoot bathtub and a gas stove that I would not trade for the world. It was a three story walk up right above a tattoo parlour. Tight knit community of mostly college students and working single men. Right across from me lived a short older fellow named Thomas. Every morning I would l see him leave his unit and slowly make his way down the stairs, he would walk down the street to the public library. Sometimes when I was doing some work at the library studing for a test or using the computers there I would see him sitting in a corner reading the newspaper. I always found him interesiting and owuld always smile and say hello. After a few years of living in the same uniot I noticed his health had started to deteriorate. He seemed like a very private person and not once did I see a relative or anyone as a matter of fact ever visit him. He would leave notes for the mail person in a scribbled hand writting informing them if a tenant had moved and was no longer living at that address. I could hear him having coughing fits in evening and in the morrning though our buildings thin walls and I always worried about his well being. I guess living away from my own family he reminded me of my grandfather, with whom I had an excellent relationship and loved very dearly. So one day I mustered up the confidence to knock on his door,. after all I had made a big batch of soup and I only had myself to feed, so I knocked on his door and offered him a bowl. This became a routine between us, and each evening when I prepared a meal, I would simply knock on his door and leave a plastic contained full of whatever I had made myself to eat. After all my mom raised me with the belief that one should if possible always share a meal. I had just started a job and money was tight, but I felt the necessity to share this with my new friend whoo oalways thanked me and would knock on the door the next morning on his way to the library leaving me a note saying thank you with the empty container. One day my life changed forever. I came home to see the corner pullign out a stretcher with my pal in it. The following moring my life changed forever, for the landlord knocked on my door and told me that while clewaning his unit, my neighbour had left me a little black book with my name owritten on it. It had his memoirs and a note that said, thank you for feeding me for all these years and sharing what little you had, as a token of appreciation I would like to leave you this book, we did not have much time to talk, but in this book you will learn about me, and as a token of appreciaiton I would like to leave you this, in the back of the notebook was a chequere written to my name in the sum of $20,000. and the not on it read' a small kind gesture can make a man's life, thank you for aknowlegeding me".