Starbucks??? Three of my advisees (all senior girls) said hopefully and excitedly after formal dinner the other night. Please???? They’d determined it was too cold for ice cream, so if I was willing to take them somewhere….

And honestly I’ve never been more glad to load my car full of teenage girls and head out for a mini adventure. See, I’ve spent the majority of my adult life in Boston, Cambridge and Watertown. Watching from afar as the unimaginable events unfolded there this past week was surreal and horrible. The ironic juxtaposition of witnessing it all from here among the peaceful orange groves was not lost on me. One of the hardest parts was thinking about the students at my former school, and not being there to comfort them and go through the experience with them. Being able to spend just an hour with my girls here, laughing, listening to top 40 on the radio, drinking lattes at 7 pm, was just the right thing. Sometimes even when you don’t know what you need, you get exactly that.