Today I took the local commuter train to Chicago to have lunch with the professor who was my advisor when I was working on my Master’s thesis. I graduated from Lake Forest College’s M/LS program almost twenty years ago, so that tells you how long we’ve been friends. She is still at the college, while I have dabbled in this and that. We’ve both kept busy, which means we don’t get together often. But when we do, we pick up where we left off.
We have decided that Pegasus in Greektown is part of this tradition. It’s a manageable distance from our respective train stations, and the food is to our liking. Today we dined on saganaki, spanakopita, and grilled calamari. Aphrodite and Hera never ate better.
We had only two hours to catch up before train schedules and other commitments dictated we start to return home. But in that time we covered what’s happened to the M/LS program over time, what our extended families are doing, her work as part of Lake Forest’s preservation committee and my work trying to convince people to give gentle reads a chance. As time ran out, we moved to religion and politics, saving the most problematic for last.
Obviously, we hardly did any of these topics justice; but as she was boarding her train, I said: “Let’s not wait so long to catch up. Why can’t we chat on the phone?” Her eyes lit up. She hugged me in agreement and hustled to the train.
I know it’s old fashioned these days, but we are both of the age where it could work.
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