It looked like a "habitation zone" in an old, nihilistic science fiction movie but Linda thought it would make a clean background for all of the photos.
After all of the picture taking, the whole clan formed a caravan to search for the best restaurant for an early dinner. "Let's try Alberghetti's," Hayley had said, describing it as "a classy Italian restaurant. When they arrived, they discovered that half of the families of the graduates must have had the same idea. They could not even find a parking space. The same thing happened for her next suggestions: Normas, and The Blue Danube. By their fourth try, Linda thought she was going to pass out from low blood sugar. Hayley led them to "Ye Chop House," a steak restaurant on the far edge of town.
Luckily, they could get a table there. The restaurant featured a medieval motif, with the hostess wearing a low-necked dress with a bodice and a wide, hoping skirt. Candlelight had been simulated with the use of electric glass lanterns with gently flickering bulbs, with the wait staff not only wearing medieval garb (the men wearing flounced shirts and knickers) but speaking with lots of "thees" and "thous" as well. The waiter handed scrolls to everyone seated at the table, with everyone flashing confused looks until Stephen unrolled one and said "It's a menu!"
Linda sat next to Hayley for the dinner. At the end, while they lounged over coffee, she started saying her goodbyes. "If you get one of those jobs in Chicago, you need to come home for at least a week, first," Linda said, her voice cracking. "I want to be able to give you the proper sendoff."
"I know, mom," Hayley replied. "You always have."
After the dinner, she and Stephen spent the rest of the day at her parents house, with Stephen's parents as well. They spoke about Hayley and her bright future and the ceremony.
Later, the subjects turned to horror tales about the still-failing economy and the wretched state of the country. When the men started talking about sports, Linda coaxed Stephen to take her back to the hotel room. They would all catch breakfast together at the hotel's brunch buffet before Linda and Stephen would need to hit the road for the long drive home.
Back home, Linda settled in for an ordinary work week during the first bloom of what would be a long, bright summer. She had been at Jewish so long that she knew more than all of the administrators and the director of nursing. Most doctors requested her directly when they called to get updates on their patients. Who else would know more, they must have figured, than a strong, hard-working woman who had been there for thirty years.