She looks so old!

I had dinner this week with my friend Kathy. We were celebrating my November and her February birthdays. I got her an easel-back canvas print of her and her family visiting Millennium Park, and she got me the Hamilton Broadway soundtrack.

We're in regular contact, usually by Facebook and occasionally via email, but we haven't seen each other since fall. So I admit I was shocked by how she had changed in the last five months or so. She was wearing no make up and her skin was very lined. Could the change in her appearance be winter pallor? Or has this winter been especially hard on her? She's had a lot going on in her ever-chaotic life and has found herself needing to find a new home. We didn't speak specifically about her ongoing money problems (because we were celebrating) but as part of the conversation about her apartment hunting, she mentioned that she made $10,000 last year. She also complained that she can't see well at night anymore, and that worries her in terms of her driving. She's also very forgetful. Her age and frailty made me sad.

I mentioned that my new Ventra card expires in December 2022 -- when I'll be 65 -- and joked that my own expiration date might be sooner. But it did wash over me that we're all old. Kathy is oldest, true, by about 10 years. But John will be 63 in July. Both John and Kathy have diabetes, and John has heart trouble, to boot. My oldest friend, aged 61, battles depression and arthritis and heart trouble and pre-diabetes and dental problems (which can be a gateway to so many other problems).

This all leaves me melancholy.

LaCantina, the delightful downstairs at The Italian Village

On the bright side, the manicotti was exquisite. It's always fabulous at La Cantina. Their minestrone is also always awesome. It's one of three restaurants under the same roof called The Italian Village. If you're ever in Chicago, you must dine here. This is a foodie town, and chic restaurants come and go. But Italian Village and La Cantina are dependably old-school Italian and reliably fantabulous.* And so affordable! Because Hamilton is playing right across the street, it's hard to get in between 5:30 and 6:30. But other than that, you can generally wander in without a reservation. Go, go, go. (And have the manicotti.)

By the way, our waitress saw the packages and realized we were celebrating birthdays, so she brought us a big piece of rum cake with a candle. But even better than the free dessert, was her presentation. She was very young and had a very thick accent (I couldn't identify the accent.) She came over singing "Happy Birthday." She changed the lyric, "Happy Birthday, Miss Americas, Happy Birthday to Youse." So cute!

*I'm not so sold on the third restaurant, Vivere.