I arrived Tuesday afternoon to the home of Dave and Cara. Dave and I met at the same seminar in Tucson where I met Toni, but I'd never met his wife before. They live in a super-cute apartment on the upper floor of a house in Somerville. We really just hung out that day, mostly, and caught up after not seeing each other for a year. And there was some great news that day -- Cara got a new job! She'd been out of work for a little while, and so it was great, great news. So that night, we went out for a celebration dinner to a great Italian place in their neighborhood, Li'l Vinny's. (I love the name). We had amazing pasta e fagioli to start, and then they each ordered pasta dishes for supper with in-house made fresh pasta, and I ordered the osso bucco -- because I may as well order it at a place that is authentic, right?
The portions came out, and they were laughable -- the pasta was served on a huge platter for each of Dave and Cara. But mine was really obscene. It came out on this enormous plate, and was piled high with meat, tomato sauce, and vegetables. Delicious as it was, I literally ate only 1/8 of it, the portion was so huge. I honestly could never have imagined anything so large -- and for someone who eats out as much as I do, that's saying something....
Anyway, the next day I left Somerville and took the subway to the Boston Commons. I decided to take the Freedom Trail tour, which was pretty cool. I hadn't thought about the American Revolution in many, many years, and it was nice having a little refresher course. Our tour guide was an odd guy, though -- he kept saying insulting things to the folks in our group. I don't think he meant too, really -- I got the impression that he just gives the tour so often that he tries to mix it up and have conversation with everyone in the group. So he'd try to talk about "identifying features" of each place the visitors were from. But often, his comments came out kind of rude. So for the family from Belgium, he said something like: "Hmmm....Belgium. A place that's not known for anything at all." And the family became incensed. They retorted: "What? What about mussels and frites? Chocolate? Beer?" To which the guide said, "All right, I'll give you chocolate...." Just kind of odd.
Anyway, my favorite parts of the tour was the discussion of the Boston Massacre, which didn't occur at all the way it appears in the painting of the massacre. Instead of British soldiers firing on helpless colonists, they lined up while having the colonists threw rocks and other items thrown at them. They were NOT told to fire by their commander, either. But apparently one British private was hit with an object and fell to the ground, and supposedly yelled, "Damn you, fire!" To which the soldiers did, and killed five colonists. And the rest, they say, is history.
I also really enjoyed the Granary Burial Ground, where John Hancock, Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin's parents, and the five who died in the Boston Massacre were buried. It was very interesting. And I learned lots about Paul Revere that I'd never known before, not the least of which was that he never uttered "The British are coming". It makes sense, too, because that statement wouldn't have made sense, since the colonists considered themselves British, too. Instead, he called "The Regulars are Out", by which he meant the soldiers.
That afternoon, after wandering around Faneuil Hall and the Boston Commons, I took the subway back to Somerville, and then drove out to Newton to meet up with Jordan Schwartz, an old friend from college. He's married now and has FOUR children -- quite a change from when I last saw him in 1997! Anyway, it was a fun evening meeting his wife Abby and playing with their kids. And after the kids went to bed, I had a long conversation with Jordan and Abby, which was really nice.
The next morning I was invited to walk to school with Abby and the kids, which was really fun, and then I went back into downtown. Actually, I went first to Harvard Square, wandered around the campus for a while, and then stopped in to the Coop (Harvard Bookstore) for a while. After that, I ate lunch at Cardullo's, a gourmet market in the area. Then I went downtown and wandered around the Public Gardens and up and down Newbury Street, and then finally went back to hang out at the Boston Commons again. It is really a lovely public area there, and so nice to have such a beautiful space for everyone in the city to enjoy.
That night, I went back to Jordan and Abby's, and had another fun evening playing with the kids (their son Caleb is almost as ticklish as I am), and another evening of good conversation. Then the following morning, I walked with the kids to school again before I headed out of town.
It was a great few days. I was so grateful to once again have time to catch up with old friends, and to meet their families and see their lives now. I was especially surprised by seeing Jordan, in the same way I was surprised by seeing Dax and Amethyst last spring in Colorado Springs, and Martha in Seattle. I hadn't seen Jordan in 13 years -- and yet, we seemed to be able to catch up in an hour or so, and then it was like we'd never been apart, in a way.
It's one of the blessings of this trip for me, to know that people who were special to me once are still special to me now, and to know that my true friends never really leave, no matter the time or distance between us. I've been so preoccupied with my life over the past few years, between work and career-building, and I never would have guessed that catching up would have been so simple. It's amazing to know how much space I have for love and friendship, when I only allow myself to have the space....when I allow myself to be present, and not obsess about the work I have to do, the obligations I have to fill, the people I try not to disappoint, and what the future holds.
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