Last Friday, Mer made arrangements to meet a former student, Sarah, for supper at Friday’s. Sarah had also been in my school Irish dancing club, so I know her pretty well, and I was delighted to catch up with her again.

Sarah had just graduated from college, with a major in International Studies and a minor in Arabic. She wants to work in a position that has contact with the Middle East, and she spent a semester in Jordan. She has a good handle on all of the changes that have been going on with the Arab Spring, and so it was a fascinating conversation with her.

One fun thing that was different was that during supper, a young man going to Kent State came over to make a balloon animal for Sarah, which he made into a flower. We gave him a few bucks to help him, since it is how he is putting himself through college. I do suspect that he may have been influenced by the pretty blonde 22-year-old sitting at our table. Just a guess.

It came out during supper that Sarah had not yet seen The Avengers, and since Mer had not seen the movie yet either, I proposed we should go see it. Both Mer and Sarah were willing, and we found it was playing nearby at a convenient time. So I got a chance to see it again, and I still enjoyed it. Mer and Sarah expressed appreciation for it. In fact, at some point in the movie, when all these huge-armed men were running around on the screen, Mer started absentmindedly stroking my bicep. I expect she was reminded of me. At least I took it that way.