So the Panera near my house closed today.
My sister said, "I don't understand. I was pretty sure that then entire Panera franchise was funded by our high school through that location. They're probably going to go out of business without our patronage now =P " And a friend posted a pic on facebook with a sad little eulogy thing, which just sparked a lot of ~memories~.
When I was very little, before Panera opened, there was a bread shop (no, Sarah, there's a word for that) bakery in the same strip. My mom bought raisin bread there frequently, maybe even normal bread, too; I can't remember. And the owner was absolutely lovely, and I always got a "sample" piece when we visited. But it closed, and I was heartbroken. Poor four-year-old me. (Or something.)
So when Mom told me there was a new bread shop opening (Panera), I got really excited. I was a bit sad when I discovered that it was more a restaurant than a shop, but whatever. But so many things have happened there. Happened there. Awkward verb tenses.
For the longest time, it was a law of the universe that one could not go there without seeing *someone* familiar and striking up a conversation.
Em's parents took us to dinner there several times, especially after softball and soccer games. I went to a lot of her games even when I didn't play. I had my first coffee drink with them at that Panera. Em had ordered one, so I did too, and her mom was like, "There's coffee in that!" and I was like, "OK whatever, also yes I can read" (in my head) but out loud, "Yeah, that's fine" or maybe "Yeah, I know" and she probably asked if my parents let me drink coffee, and I said yes despite never having that conversation with them.
That one time I pissed off the wife of a local VIP (whose children went to school with me and thus was acquainted with my parents), she told my mom off in the back of that restaurant. Oops.
I always imagined posting personal babysitting adds on their bulletin board in the back. I even made fliers on powerpoint and saved them under a password-locked thing, because I was worried my mom would find them (???) idk. Never did that though. Old fashioned networking all the way.
I saw the middle school magistrae there over a summer one time, and I myself tutored at least two students there. Magistra also took me there a few times as a treat for helping her in her class on breaks.
I saw Steph and her mom there this summer while I was tutoring (it turned out to be one of her mom's students, too), and we hadn't talked in a g e s, but it was nice.
Mi care and I went there for breakfast one day when we had a delayed start of school (afternoon exams only maybe?) and my mom stopped by to get her own coffee, not knowing our plans, and it was funny/awkward.
It's just so strange that it's going away. My sister asked me today whether Cleveland or Boston felt more like home, and I had to say Boston, though it doesn't quite feel like home either. And I found a poem in my writing folder that I wrote when I got home at the beginning of this past summer, the last line of which was "And she wondered where home was." *sigh*
-fin-
ETA: my location here sounds like Harry's address for his first Hogwarts letter =P
When I was very little, before Panera opened, there was a bread shop (no, Sarah, there's a word for that) bakery in the same strip. My mom bought raisin bread there frequently, maybe even normal bread, too; I can't remember. And the owner was absolutely lovely, and I always got a "sample" piece when we visited. But it closed, and I was heartbroken. Poor four-year-old me. (Or something.)
So when Mom told me there was a new bread shop opening (Panera), I got really excited. I was a bit sad when I discovered that it was more a restaurant than a shop, but whatever. But so many things have happened there. Happened there. Awkward verb tenses.
For the longest time, it was a law of the universe that one could not go there without seeing *someone* familiar and striking up a conversation.
Em's parents took us to dinner there several times, especially after softball and soccer games. I went to a lot of her games even when I didn't play. I had my first coffee drink with them at that Panera. Em had ordered one, so I did too, and her mom was like, "There's coffee in that!" and I was like, "OK whatever, also yes I can read" (in my head) but out loud, "Yeah, that's fine" or maybe "Yeah, I know" and she probably asked if my parents let me drink coffee, and I said yes despite never having that conversation with them.
That one time I pissed off the wife of a local VIP (whose children went to school with me and thus was acquainted with my parents), she told my mom off in the back of that restaurant. Oops.
I always imagined posting personal babysitting adds on their bulletin board in the back. I even made fliers on powerpoint and saved them under a password-locked thing, because I was worried my mom would find them (???) idk. Never did that though. Old fashioned networking all the way.
I saw the middle school magistrae there over a summer one time, and I myself tutored at least two students there. Magistra also took me there a few times as a treat for helping her in her class on breaks.
I saw Steph and her mom there this summer while I was tutoring (it turned out to be one of her mom's students, too), and we hadn't talked in a g e s, but it was nice.
Mi care and I went there for breakfast one day when we had a delayed start of school (afternoon exams only maybe?) and my mom stopped by to get her own coffee, not knowing our plans, and it was funny/awkward.
It's just so strange that it's going away. My sister asked me today whether Cleveland or Boston felt more like home, and I had to say Boston, though it doesn't quite feel like home either. And I found a poem in my writing folder that I wrote when I got home at the beginning of this past summer, the last line of which was "And she wondered where home was." *sigh*
-fin-
ETA: my location here sounds like Harry's address for his first Hogwarts letter =P