So nice to see you, Jean greeted me with a hug.

After our pleasantries and a moment of silence where the both of us looked outside at the gentle snow fall she asked me something. Something real. Definitely the first real statement of our conversation.

I'm surprised to learn you're in  Westcity...

The email from  Jean Gras asking if I'd be down for a coffee was the first time I'd heard from her since college .

Back then we got coffee a lot. I think whenever she asked, except for one occasion I said yes. That one time I had wanted to say...

"Jean. aren't you supposed to be in class?"

She hadn't expected to run into anyone, but she wasn't displeased by the encounter. She had decided to take the entire day off and instead spend it at the cafe doing nothing at all, besides for drinking large volumes of coffee and  rooibos...

The first few times you go to coffee with somebody are almost always quite exciting. Both people listen to each other and it turns out to be an exciting exchange of ideas and theories. After a few times this excitement fades. You both begin to realize that in fact all...