.....the man was about 6'2, 6'3 a little over 200 Lbs amazed by how Asfaw managed to drop him to the ground so fast, he went on a quest to find Asfaw the next day. Ohhhhh excuse me for starting from the middle of the story but any one who was privileged to have spent some time with Asfaw knows how good a story teller he was. If he was ever interrupted while telling a story he would pause until the rude interrupter is done and continue from where he left off. His stories are legendary and exactly the same every time he tells them. Those of us who were lucky to be around him more often knew how to get him started. We would make him tell us the same stories again and again because we could not get enough of them. In honor of Asfaw I have decided to share one of his stories with you today. As you can see I am already all over the place with the story. Now I know that story telling is indeed an art. An art that was perfected by asfaw, I digress, getting back to my story I mean Asfish's story... the man looked for asfaw all day around Fairfax. Sure enough people kept telling asfaw that there is a man asking about him around town. Apparently the night before Asfish and this gentle giant had a bit of an altercation at the former Niyala Restaurant. The man, mistaking Asfish's politeness for cowardliness kept telling Asfish let's take it outside... well needless to say Asfish obliged. As they went through the back door seconds later the gentle giant found himself llaying on the ground in between two parked cars. Soon after that people broke up the fight and they went their separate ways. Getting back to the beginning of my story, yes my story.. for I have an obligation to keep Asfish' s stories and his memories alive by making them my own. After hearing that the man was looking for him, Asfish went on an alert mode. Eventually they met. Asfish went on the offensive and said to the gentle giant " have you not had enough" the man replied by saying no! I am not here to fight you. I just want to know how in the world you drop me that fast? His exact words were " እንዴት አርገሽ ነው እባክሽ እንደዛ የጣልሽኝ".

I wish I could tell you about the time Asfish ended up on a stage while Al Green was performing or about the time Asfish was wanted by the Royal Guard for starting a student rebellion at Leole Mekonin School, or the time he was... I guess I can tell you about my story of how I met Asfaw the very first time. It was in the early nineties and I had just met the love of my life, Helen, as luck would have it, Asfish's niece. What I did not know was that Asfaw was very protective of his family and did not like the fact that she had a boyfriend and; it did not help that I reminded him of a younger version of himself. I was warned by a lot of people that he is not happy with me seeing his niece and they follow it up with how he has said he would break my bones. It took a while to charm him but he became like an uncle to me. I eventually started addressing him as "Gashe Asfaw" because he was more than a favorite uncle. The man who vowed to break my bones 25 years ago has left me with a broken heart.

 Amanuel Sebhatu