Day 146 - backgammon dude's friends

There's a coffee shop I go to regularly enough, that I know its regulars. I was there tonight, and saw this very handsome and put together young man I always see there. We always smile at each other and we've spoken a few times. He goes there on a daily basis and plays backgammon with a few of the other regulars there. He is usually alone, but sometimes comes in with another guy while he while he waits to play with some of the other patrons who are in the middle of a game. I often refered to him as backgammon dude. This evening I found out that he is actually clinically schizophrenic. He has a hard time making friends. He comes to this coffee shop regularly because this disorder has brought difficulties to his social life. My heart melted, and I realised how beautiful it was of the people who play with him every night, the friends that do come and sit with him while he has a coffee, and even the coffee shop workers who hold his backgammon board for him. And I think it shows a lot of patience and empathy on their part. Often these things are discriminated against and tend to make people uncomfortable. For these people to put those prejudgements aside, and give this young man an honest chance, really warms my heart. Because these are the people who truly understand life gives you both dark and bright aspects usually in the same package. Some of people just have a harder time hiding these things than others. Neither of these aspects of ourselves are wrong or right. And they sure don't make any of us less capable of having friends, conversation, or anything for that matter.