We see certain people around us every day and assume their lives are ordinary. Or we just  sit back and wonder. Sometimes we neglect to question at all. 

The truth is that there may be compelling drama in an "ordinary" life. As any great writer will tell you -- it all starts with character.  In a given time and place, certain circumstances are set in in motion.  Choices are made. And inner character is revealed.

Of such stuff is this tale of a regular member of our community, Irwin Rosen, who many will recognize as one who visits the JCCSF discreetly, often on Shabbat. This is the short version.