The story teller

AAre you calling me a liar!!! Don't you dare , I will not be disrespected that way !! This was the first exchange I ever had with Marc, Marc Drayer. But I didn't know this man or even his name at this point in time, but I would know him well enough sooner than I'd ever thought. Marc was unkempt, disorganized, stumbling slow ,loud with coughs and wheeze and truthfully smelled bad enough some days one would wonder if he even knew it . At first I avoided Marc at work like most people did. He made you feel uncomfortable. Even those who interacted with him seemed to do it from a distance. Then one day as i sat outside the break room by myself to get some solitude I overheard the most repulsive ugly noise I ever had heard from another adult. It both angered me and disgusted me, and no it wasn't Marc, it was a coworker giving her verbal abuse to Marc like a coward, behind his back,and to others poisoning the minds and sympathies of others without a shred of apology. I left in tears determined to engage Marc and get to know him as a person,if only to ease my own conscience for the harsh way I treated him verbally on our first exchange. Over time I learned he was an accomplished writer, and one day he offered me a copy of his favorite story, I read it and loved it. The depth of meaning ,uses of relevant symbology engaged me completely, and I told him so the next day and thanked him. Over the next year he shared enough stories with me he could have published a children's book. I encouraged him to do s so many times and he would just blush and deflect. The last story he gave me was about animals and the porcupine who was so very lonely he had no friends cause he always poked those who got close and hurt them, yet the rabbit came along and convinced him that if he would show his softer underside people wouldn't be so scared to get close. So he did and though he was scared he went home happy and warmed by the hug he got. The story it turns out was about him and I you see, I realized I was being friendly but I still didn't give him hugs like I did others, cause I didn't want to smell bad, once I realized this I got closer and one day just gave him a big ole bear hug. There wasn't time for another store after that, Marc passed away from pneumonia contracted while working sick. At the funeral Marc unassuming lifetime of service to others throughout his entire life left him no time for a wife or children of his own. He gave ,simply and without asking anything in return. He taught Sunday school, knew verse and chapter from every version of the bible published, including being able to read and write greek, and Hebrew which he taught himself. He came early stayed late and always showed up. And no-one who worked with him in the end knew anything but how he appeared in the end. I was blessed by the chance to know him.