M&W: More Reconnections

Zigzagging across the Atlantic, one of the real high points of the trip was to see M&W, two other friends from my days at the University of Wisconsin.

Both M&W were extremely engaging—M was a Slavic studies major at Wisconsin, as befitting her Polish background and fluency in her ancestral language (and it was a priceless moment when we both recognized that the single laughter trigger of a Polish joke is that the Pole would do the exact opposite of what was normal and expected) She now imports Christmas ornaments into the US.

W is now an attorney in Milwaukee, focusing on divorce and family law, and, despite being an old comrade from Young Democrats, he actully ran for the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Republican and fared better than any candidate from his party in recent decades.

What was amazing about my conversations with both M&W is that they felt like a warm bath—twenty years of absence melting away in seconds, with an effortless flow of ideas, shared struggles, suggestions and reflections emanating from hour to hour. M&I had world-class wings at Buffalo Joes in my hometown of Evanston, Illinois (a Chicago suburb); W&I opted for sushi and then Belgian beers at the world famous Von Trier’s tavern on Milwaukee’s east side.