NOLA Notes

My dinner last night at Galatoire’s did not disappoint. As I sipped my very strong Old Fashioned, the waiter passed fried eggplant and souffle potatoes. Then we sat down to appetizers of Galatoire grand goute (shrimp two ways and a lump crabmeat dish) and fried oysters in brochette. This was followed by the salad maison and my entree of pan fried red fish with lump crabmeat with creamed spinach on the side. For dessert, we had banana bread pudding with coffee.

Seeing my coworkers, partners, was nice. I miss them. But it was a bittersweet evening. One attorney talked to me about his wanting to retire–he’s 65 and tired. I don’t blame him and encouraged him to do so. But like many strong attorneys, he feels guilty turning his back on the law–that jealous mistress being what she is. For the first time ever, it was hard for me to relate to this topic. I miss my practice; my work. I don’t miss all of it, and I don’t miss certain headaches that go with any office job. But I miss helping people and I miss using my brain to do what it was so sharply trained best to do. But I do understand walking away at the end of a satisfying and successful career. And I also understand his struggle to do so.

And as we were eating our salads, this same attorney mentioned that he’d done a good deed for a man in need–given him a ride to sell scrap metal then offered him lunch at his home. His point was that we take a dinner at Galatoire’s as another nice meal whereas many folks struggle just to bring bread to their tables for their families. And I agree with him; I certainly don’t feel a dinner a Galatoire’s is just another Thursday dinner. But I do eat out. A lot. And I agree that I have a lot to be thankful for in my life–meal-wise and else.

And then there was my toast for my dying friend. And another for a friend of ours that recently died. And talk about how a baby changes your life in ways that cannot be articulated to those with no children; how you’d give up all your dinners out and vacations to be sure your child has a good education; how you give in to faith that things will work out, and how, in fact, they do work out.

Sober evening, for sure. But it felt good. I felt alive; a muscle I hadn’t used in a while was exercised. It wasn’t necessarily the jovial evening I had anticipated, but it was well worth my four hours away from my family.