It’s one thing to plan to meet up with a friend. It’s another to go to your favorite bakery on Saturday morning and see what happens after settling at the corner table for four, with just yourself for company, and tucking into your caramelized onion quiche and pour-over coffee. It feels like going off the grid somehow. With the heart-shaped brownie to go and a 15% tip, your tab comes to $17.20. You don’t feel elated about inflation, but here you are. Your life is a perpetual question of others: “Will you be there for me?” The answers vary from resounding yes-es to indirect no-s. Rarely does someone reject outright the bid for connection. You remind yourself you aren’t alone in the world. You have connections. Even if those connections are often transactional. Young moms with toddlers straggle in. A couple with an infant in a car seat enjoying their nacho danishes (a Father’s Day special that sounds less than appealing). A little girl clutching two naked baby dolls, one black, one w...
Reflections from a peaceful place by Rebecca Newton Abbit