The meeting between two old friends
Autumn, 2023, Tom’s Restaurant, New York City,
“Erica, Glad you can make it”. Lisa stood up and gave her friend a big hug when she walked into the restaurant.
“Well, Haven’t talked to you for a while since the Pandemic. Really want to catch up with you. How are you doing these days?”
“Not much lately! I have not been running around as I used to. Guess the age thing is finally catching up with me. I spend most of my time planning now, than going out with a field group”.
“What made you decide to move back to this area?”
“Guess I had enough with the life in the Lower Manhattan,” A grin on her face when she was talking.
“Can’t blame you. I don’t party much myself anymore”.
“I was surprised to bump into you, David and Megan on graduation day in front of 116st subway station. I did not realize that Megan was graduating. In my mind, she is still that kid running around and calling me Aunt Indiana Jones.” Lisa burst into a big laughter.
“Can’t blame you. Kids grow up so fast. When you begin to get used to them, they are moving out. By the way, Megan still keeps the wooden cup that you gave her after an assignment in West Africa when she was 8.”
“Yeah, I remember that. She called it “the Holy Grail”. Guess she is really a big fan of Indiana Jones.”
“She still is. I think those photos of yours in the remote areas inspired her when she was a kid. She never wants to be a financial type like her dad David, nor like me. Both of her brothers now work in Wall Street firms. But not Megan. She never thought about a job like that. She is a big fan of her aunt Lisa.” Loud laughing can be heard from the table while other customers in the restaurant turn their heads towards them.
What is she doing now?”
“She is in France now. She took an offer there for a project which may last a couple of years. Who knows what she will do when she is done with this project. She mentioned once that she may come back to Columbia for SIPA program. I think she wants to be a diplomat or work for an international organization. How about you, Lisa? Don’t tell me that the reason you move to this area near Columbia is because you want a quieter life.”
“If you promise not to laugh, I will tell you the reason or a couple of reasons. During the Pandemic, I spent lots of time sitting in my small apartment which has a window with a glimpse of the top of the One World Trade Center. One day, when I was working, it suddenly came to me. It was the memory about those young traders, you know David’s friends, whom we used to hang out with when I was in the city. Some of them did not make it on 911. I was deep in the Andes when 911 happened. I did not know until about 1 month later when I came back to a small town where there was electricity, TV, and running water. I heard the news. Was shocked! Not quite sure about the fate of those people we knew. On my way back to New York, It felt like eaten a wrench. After getting back, I found out some of our friends were gone. When I looked at the new World Trade Center, suddenly a song from Les Miserables singing in my head.~~ Drink with me to days gone by, Sing with me ...It happened a few times, then became auto play mood. Whenever I see it through the window, the song runs in my head. Guess, WFH and isolation really got to me then. It made me quite depressed”.
“After the lockdown, I came to the upper west side for apartment hunting. When I walked closer to this area, I found out it gave me a feeling of a home. We had a very happy time here during our college years. So I decided to search in this area for an apartment.”
“Talking about lost friends and college years, Lisa, do you remember Monica who shared the suite with us in our senior year at East Campus?”
“Yes, I heard she went to Med school at Penn then practices in LA.”
“She passed away last year”
“Seriously? What happened to her?”
“Cancer”
’Gosh, I really don’t know. I did not have any contact with her since our college years. You know my job kept me running around the world most of the time.”
“I kept in touch with her most of the time. She did not mention anything to me until the last few months of her life. She told me how much she missed the happy time at Columbia. She said that from med school on, her life is just one word “busy”. She wished she could have done things differently”.
“I am glad to hear that two of you could have some final words. I did not have such a chance with my best friend and colleague Jean-Luc.”
“I heard you mentioned many times about him. What happened to him?”
“My last assignment to Kabul was supposed to be his last assignment before retirement. One morning, he had a routine trip to a village with a convoy to check up progress of a foreign aid program. It was just another day of work. Nothing special! But he did not make it back that day. His convoy was ambushed near the village. He did not make it through. When I heard the news that evening, my mind was blank for a while. When I started packing up his things to send back to his family, I tried to put words together to tell his wife the bad news. Somehow, I could not remember what I said to him that morning when he jumped into the car. Maybe just some routine meaningless chit-chat. If I had known that would be our last few words, I would have said something meaningful. After all, he was my first team leader in my first assignment to the West Africa when I was fresh out the college. But never had the chance to tell him how much I appreciated his mentoring. I was planning to tell him that at his retirement party.”
“Yes, I think it is good to have a chance to say the final words. But we usually don’t have that chance. Can’t keep telling people how our true feelings are as if we are not going to see them again. It would be very very weird.”
