An Arranged Visit

We’re in Boston to visit Rachel this weekend. David has been talking about having us get together with his cousin Don and his famous wife Nina Simonds, the author of some really good Asian cookbooks, ever since Rachel came to college at Tufts 3 years ago. When he first contacted Don about this trip, Don had said, “Sure, we’ll get together for lunch or dinner on Friday.” Then it turned into, “Why don’t you stop by between 3 and 6 in the afternoon.” Suddenly the food component was gone. What had happened?

We showed up with Rachel a little after 3. Nina acted as though she had never seen us before. A lot of the conversation centered around Rachel, since she goes to a “prestigious” school that is becoming harder and harder to get admitted to. Their son Jesse is a rising senior with a passion for sports and not a lot of good grades it seems. So they are in a panic about where he will go to school.

We were offered a choice of lemonade or sparkling water to drink. The only food was a small bowl of salted almonds. So much for oriental cooking! At one point Nina introduced us to her son, calling me Susan. Obviously my name had not made a lasting impression.

At about 5:30 Nina started looking at her watch and suggesting routes we could take back to Medford. It was time for us to go home.

Rachel had initially suggested that we walk around downtown Boston on this glorious pre-fall day. That would probably have been a better use of everyone’s time!