(Thursday, October 22, 2026)
This morning I felt a sore throat and cold coming on, so I stayed in bed for most of the day. Early on I was thinking of my friend Mary, whom I have known for more than 30 years. She had a stressful divorce in 2025 and kept to herself for a long time. I texted her this summer. She said she would get back to me, but she never did. That has been a pattern. She disappears for months and years, and then returns. Because of that, I wondered if I should just let her go, take her phone number off my contacts. Ending of a friendship.
A few hours later she texted me: “Hi, were you by chance riding a red bike down Nicollet yesterday around noon?” I said yes! Mary was driving along Nicollet on her way to the Museum of Russian Art.