Walk Far,Walk Smooth,Walk Fast

Moving on

It's not the same. It's better. It's worse. It's hard to tell which.

I sit in the restaurant where my friend and I used to come for lunch to talk about reality TV shows and work. We used to call it "Cheap Chinese". Sometimes I had to think for a minute to remember the real name of the restaurant.

It was owned and operated by an older Asian couple who clearly liked being in the business, but were just as clearly not interested in expansion. She took orders and fill the to-go boxes with the 2 and 3 item plus rice meals. He'd cook up fresh orange chicken and fried green beans - my usual order - when we walked in the door. My friend would always order potstickers and rice and we'd sit upstairs where we'd rarely have more one one other table of the twelve occupied.

Some time early last year, the woman fell ill. At least that's what her husband said when we asked. Cashier and server duties fell to a parade of younger men, friends and younger relatives no doubt. Then after a few months, Cheap Chinese closed their doors.

I wondered what happened to the couple. Were they having trouble with their marriage and separated? Was she so ill that he couldn't continue to pay the medical bills? Did she pass on, leaving him to find another place to work and live? It's truly sad that I'll never know the answer. With the economy the way it is, I just hope he and she are faring well.

The new owners cleaned up the place. It's an upscale Pho restaurant with a half dozen servers and it's always packed at lunch now.

As for my friend, she's on maternity leave. I have no companion to share these thoughts with anymore. I rarely have more than a few really close friends and with our company in the midst of a re-org, it's hard not to have someone to talk to.

It's time to stop spinning. It's time to stop borrowing worry.

It's time to move on.