It was a very ordinary day, warm and sunny. It was such a shame that I had to spend it in a cramped cafe, serving muffins and coffee to the dreaded “lunch crowd.” I always hated that place, but it was the only way I had to pay the rent every month. There was too much uncertainty in singing. A wedding here, a nightclub act there, and a birthday party every once in a while just wouldn’t cut it as the only means of income. Pity, because I lived for it.

That afternoon, I had no idea that any one of the people I saw would come to impact my life so much. Yet, the person that literally made me who I am today was sitting in the park, right on the third bench. He was drawing, as he usually does on nice afternoons, but I didn’t even know that mine was the figure on the paper. It was to be the first of dozens of drawings of my likeness, but I didn’t know that either at the time. That day, he was just a guy and I was just a girl. My eyes didn’t even meet his for more than a few seconds.