“Whywouldyouwannadothat?”heasked，surprised。
“Well，maybewecouldbephonefriends。Youknow，likepenpals。”
&ed。“Iwouldn’tmind。。。havingafriendagain。”Hisvoidedalittletentative。
IcalledAdolfthefollowingafternoonandseveraldayslater。Easytotalkwith，herelatedhismemoriesofWorldWarIandII，theHindenburgdisasteraorits。Hewasfasg。Igavehimmyhomeandoffiumberssohecouldcallus。Hedid—almosteveryday。
IwasnotjustbeingkindtoaloalkingtoAdolfortanttome，becauseI，too，hadabiggapinmylife。Raisedinesandfosterhomes，Ineverhadafather。Gradually，Adolftookonakindoffatherlyimportaalkedaboutmyjobandcollegecourses，whidedatnight。
Adolfwarmedtotheroleofselor。WhiledisgadisagreementI’dhadervisor，Itoldmyhiwithhim。”
“What’stherush?”Adolfed。“Letthings。WheasoldasIam，youfindoutthattimetakescareofalot。Ifthiworse，thenyoutalktohim。”
Therewasalongsilence。“Youknow，”hesaidsoftly，“IamtalkingtoyoujustthewayI’dtalktoaboyofmyoantedafamily—and。You’retooyoungtoknowhowthatfeels。”
No，Iwasn’t。I’dalwayswantedafamily—aIdidn’tsayanything，afraidIwouldoholdbackthehurtI’dfeltf。
Oneevening，Adolfmehbirthdaywasingup。Afterbuyingapieceoffiberboard，Idesigneda2“×5”greetingcardwithad89it。IaskedalltheyOffiissinit。Igatherednearlyahuures。Adolfwouldgetakickoutofthis，Iknew。
&alkingonthephoneforfourmonthsnow，andIthoughtthiswouldbeagoodtimetomeetfacetoface。SoIdecidedtodeliverthecardbyhand。
Ididn’ttellAdolfIwasing;Ijustdrovetohisaddressahecarupthestreetfromhisapartmemanwassmailinthehallwaywhehebuilding。HenoddedasIcheckedthemailboxesforAdolf’sartment1H，some20feetfromwhereIstood。
&pouhext。Wouldwehavethesamechemistryiwehadonthephohefirststabofdoubt。Maybehewouldrejectmethewaymyfatherrejectedmewheofmylife。ItappedonAdolf’sdoor。Whentherewasnoanswer，Iknockedharder。
&manlookedupfr。“here，”hesaid。
“Yeah，”Isaid，feelingalittlefoolish。“Ifheansweredhisdoorthewayheanswershisphohismaytakeallday。”
“Areyouarelativeorsomething?”
“No，justafriend。”
“I’mreallysorry，”hesaidquietly，“butMr。Methdieddaybeforeyesterday。”
Died?Adolf?Foramoment，I’taoodthereinshoddisbelief。Then，pulliher，Ithamaothelate-msuowardthecar，misty-eyed。
Then，roundingtheer，IsawadaliheOldTestameomymihatalltimes。Andespedeath，Irealized。Thisbroughtamnitioakessomesuddenandsadturoawakenustothebeautyofaspecialpresenourlives。Now，forthefirsttime，IsensedhowverycloseAdolfandIhadbee。Ithasbeeneasy，ahiswouldmakeitevehehmyclosefriend。Slowly，Ifeltawarmthsurgingthroughme。IheardAdolf’sgrowlyvoig，“WrohenIheardhimaskingwhyIwao。
“Beattered，Adolf，”Isaidaloudtonoone。“BecauseIwasyourfriend。”
Iplaopehdaythebaydgotbehindthewheel。Beftheengine，Ilookedovermyshoulder。“Adolf，”Iwhispered。“Ididhewroall。Igotyou。”