In Princeton, at the James Beard blessed Mistral, with them

We met at Princeton, my brother's undergraduate campus, where many happy memories live. My boy was looking his handsome self in a sunny-day colored shirt. He had stories. Posture. A photograph inside a frame.

Together we discovered Mistral, an exquisite "fast pace, small plates, fresh local fare" establishment, whose chefs—Scott Anderson and Ben Nerenhausen—were both named 2014 James Beard Foundation Award Semi-Finalists. I'd lately been watching Chef's Table (watch this trailer!), the sumptuous Netfix series. I wanted a little of that. And so there we were, and such is fine, great happy for me: memories of my brother on his campus, the companionship of my husband and my son, and a restaurant in which everything we ordered was unlike anything I've ever ordered elsewhere.

We watched them make it. They brought it to us. I could do that again and again.

To those who love. To those who are loved. To those remembering. This day.