Another day of sunshine and temperatures in the 50s—and a day of hellos and goodbyes. After a very pleasant stay with Michelle and Mark in Minneapolis, I bid them farewell with a promise that they’ll visit us in Maine. I especially enjoyed our talks and the chance to get to know them better.
Before driving to Galena, Illinois, I had a chance to spend time with two charming young women, daughters of friends. Linda and Rick’s daughter Jen agreed to meet me for breakfast before I headed for Illinois and the east. I hadn’t seen her for many years and remembered her as a spirited young teen with multicolored hair. Originally Jen suggested a restaurant in St. Paul, where she lives, which would have required me to pick my way through rush hour traffic on unfamiliar roads. Michelle and Mark printed the Google maps directions for me, but then proposed a restaurant much closer to their apartment in Minneapolis. Jen graciously agreed to meet me there. Mark obligingly printed out a second set of directions for me.
First, let me say that morning is not my best time. Even with a bracing cup of Michelle’s coffee, I had not reached prime navigating mode when I set out for the restaurant at 8:30. I managed to enter the correct address into Ms. Garmin, but I scanned the paper directions to the original restaurant. Then, as Ms. Garmin continued to chastise me, I determinedly followed, step by step, the Google directions to the St. Paul restaurant. When the traffic slowed and stopped, I glanced at the last step on the Google page and FINALLY realized that I was headed in the opposite direction from the restaurant where Jen would be waiting. As Ms. Garmin gloated, I followed her directives to turn around and arrived at the right restaurant a couple minutes before the appointed time. But I had to laugh to myself as I envisioned Jen arriving at the restaurant in Minneapolis and receiving a call from me at the restaurant in St. Paul. In a reprisal of the misguided meeting with her parents long ago, I could hear Jen saying, “If she’s there, why am I here?” (See Day 13).
Jen has matured into a lovely young woman. We caught up on each other’s lives as we ate a hearty breakfast. I had left my camera in the car, and even if I could have figured out how to take a photo with my ancient track phone, I never would have been able to retrieve it. Jen, being tuned in to the modern world of communications, opened her I-pad and snapped a selfie, which she then emailed to me. Miracles of the with-it generation!
At lunch I enjoyed the company of Chala, the daughter of our friends Jane and Bob, who attends school near Minneapolis. She introduced me to her adviser, who had high praise for Chala, and to her two roommates and other friends. It was a treat to see her apartment and know that she is happy and doing so well. This time I remembered my camera, but Chala, another expert at modern communications, took out her electronics and shot a better photo of the two of us.
Now I have great photos of two of my favorite young women.