Loneliness

There is a large man that we see at the library frequently.  The first time, we rode the elevator up with him, having a babystroller for Logan.  He struck up a conversation immediately, as if we were the type of friends that had late night dinners under the stars, with great food and wine and long conversations into the night.  We had never seen him before but that did not stop him from commenting about the weight he had lost nor, unexpectedly, from my husband wishing him luck in his new diet.  I didn’t say much to him just shook my head.  The other day we saw him again as we were getting into the car after a library visit, and he commented that he had lost another 5 pounds since we’d last seen him.  I did not immediately think about his open personality to be so without artifice, but rather that he was kind of lonely.  But I think that this interaction that we have has become an integral part of a trip to the library, that it makes at least me feel like a part of a more interwoven community.