Support and Encouragement for the Ones Who Seek It

Edward Ridge felt important as he moved into his apartment for college. He had the dream to become a teacher’s assistant, and he knew that his college program for young adults with disabilities would have that become a reality. Another young girl, named Alice, was also moving into the same building to be in the same program, and so was a young boy named Andy, who was hoping to become a chef. After the first semester ended and the second one began, Andy started an internship at a Greek house on campus, which was not super busy. He loved that a lot. Edward started working at the Frazer Center, while Alice started working at the Elaine Clark Center because she also wanted to be a teacher’s assistant. Both the Frazer Center and the Elaine Clark Center are private schools for preschool through high school. One day, Edward and Alice met up to go out for fun with some friends. As they waited for some friends to show up, they talked about what classes they were in.

“I’m taking a history class now,” said Edward. “It’s Civil War to Present.”

“I’m taking a history class, too!” said Alice. “Except it’s all American history.”

“You love history?” asked Edward.

“I do,” replied Alice.

This conversation went on until the group of friends left. Later, after summer at the start of a new year, Andy got a job at the campus food court. He liked this chef work, but the food court sometimes got too busy, and Andy wasn’t a fast cook. Some of the equipment was heavy, and customers and coworkers sometimes complained and acted weird. Andy often came back to his apartment grumpy and short-tempered. He didn’t feel like hanging out with friends on weekends, and when he had activities planned, he wanted them to go exactly the way he expected them to go.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Andy!” Edward said one day. “It’s clear to me that you need to find a different job at a place that’s less busy or easier.”

“Like where?” asked Andy.

“Like the ice cream shop that my dad started,” suggested Edward.

“Your dad started an ice cream shop?” asked Andy. “You didn’t tell me that!”

“There aren’t many locations around yet because the company is still expanding,” Edward said. “The place still gets crowded on hot days, but all you’ll be making is ice cream, milkshakes, or frozen yogurt, and that’s all.”

“What’s the name of the place?” asked Andy.

“Glen and Ridge Ice Cream House,” answered Edward.

One week later, Edward was walking through the lobby of his apartment building after coming back from a class when he saw Alice sitting on a couch crying. He sat across from her.

“What’s wrong, Alice?” asked Edward.

“I was out to dinner at Marlow’s Tavern, and we were supposed to pay separately, but the server didn’t listen, and I paid for all the dinners, as well as my own,” sobbed Alice.

“I’m sure it was only an accident,” said Edward.

“All of my friends said that, but my parents didn’t think so,” said Alice.

Edward gave Alice a hug and gave her a tissue to dry her tears. When he got back to his apartment, Edward started thinking about times when he talked to some girls and thought about dating them. Some of the girls he thought of, though, had hard times talking and others acted funny.

“I would’ve regretted asking any of them out,” he thought.

Suddenly, Edward got an idea. Later that weekend he called Alice.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me?” Edward asked.

“I would love that!” answered Alice. “I’m free tomorrow for dinner.”

“So am I!” answered Edward. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

The next day at 6:00, Edward met Alice in the lobby. She was dressed in a beautiful dress covered with flowers of spring.

“You look so pretty,” said Edward.

“Thank you,” said Alice.

The two walked down together to Moe’s Southwest Grill, where they got their favorite Mexican dishes. When Edward and Alice began talking, they soon realized they had a lot in common. At the end of the dinner, Alice thanked Edward for paying and the two went back to their apartments. Next week, Alice met Edward on the twenty-fifth floor to talk, and they found even more common interests. They both loved kids and their jobs as teachers’ assistants that they planned to keep for years.

“I work with about twenty preschool kids at the Frazer Center, and I love it,” said Edward. “What about your job?”

“I work with eight- and nine-year-olds at the Elaine Clark Center, and they all have disabilities,” Alice told Edward. “I also want to know how you get there. I use the MARTA trains. I ride it to Chamblee.”

“I use MARTA to get to the Frazer Center as well,” replied Edward. “Except I ride a bus.”

“I’ve never used a MARTA bus before,” said Alice.

“It’s easy to do it when you know where you’re going,” said Edward. “But if you’re more comfortable using the trains, we can do that someday; maybe ride up to the mall and shop.”

More and more common interests were found as the conversations went on for Alice and Edward. They started going on more dinner dates every week. Later, Andy got an interview for a job at Glen and Ridge Ice Cream House and got the job. The shop was busy, but he loved making ice cream and frozen yogurt much better than meat and salad, which was what he used to do at the campus food court. Edward and Alice went on dating and gave gifts to each other whenever they felt like it. Soon, they had met each other’s families, who were very happy to see these two together. After working for two years at Glen and Ridge Ice Cream House, the company expanded and opened up more locations, and Andy became the manager of his store after Edward’s dad retired. After Edward, Alice, and Andy graduated from college, Edward wished to find a way to share with everyone how awesome it had been giving support and encouragement to other students, and that is exactly what you have now finished reading.

The end.