Standing outside that diner, another question finally replaced it.
Who else could Leo become important to?
Through the window, I could see Marcy placing his time card beside the cards of the other employees, exactly where it belonged.
For years, I had worried about whether Leo would ever find his place in the world. What I hadn’t understood was that a small corner of that world had already spent years learning how to make room for him.
And Leo hadn’t simply found a place there.
He had become the person who remembered Mr. Howard’s usual order. The person who noticed when the sugar packets were mixed up. The person who cared whether the ketchup bottles were sticky. The person employees expected to see and customers greeted by name.
He had become someone they would notice when he was gone.
And perhaps that was the lesson I had needed eighteen years to understand.
