Coles & Estelle

We had a long drive today back from Philly. We left just a little after 9:30 am and we arrived home about 5:30 pm. We were tired and decided to go out and get some dinner somewhere. We then decided on going over to Coles and sat in a booth in the dining room. 

I ordered some of their delicious Shepherd's Pie. I've had it there before and loved it. I especially love the peas and carrots along with the potato chunks and mashed potatoes. Yum. Becky had the Buffalo Chicken Wrap which is one of her favorite sandwiches there. I had a couple of Oktoberfest drafts from the local Wayward Brewery.

While we were sitting there enjoying our dinner a couple of people came in and sat near us. I recognized the woman as someone I worked with at Canisius but couldn't remember her name. It had been about ten years since I'd seen her. I was pretty sure it was her but she did look older and I wasn't completely sure and dammit I couldn't remember the name. I had gone to the men's room and on the way back to our table I looked at the couple at their table and I was convinced I knew this person.

I had also then recognized her husband too whom I'd met a few times over the years and if it was who I thought it was then I knew her husband had been the director of the Buffalo History Museum. I looked up on Google for the former director of that museum and sure enough it came up right away with Bill Siener. That was him but who was she? I still couldn't put a first name to her last name. So I went on Facebook searched for Siener and sure enough it immediately displayed Estelle Siener and that was certainly her.

I went over to their table to say Hi! They both remembered me and Estelle was so very happy to see me and stood up to give me a hug. I talked with them for several minutes. Estelle had worked with Dave at ITS and was asking about him. I told her of course we see him all the time. She asked about Becky who came over to say hello to them too. After a bit more talking we went back to our table where we had just paid for the check and had some leftovers boxed. I was so happy that I made the effort to verify that indeed it was a familiar person and was able to get that name. I did see Estelle quite a bit during my 20 years at Canisius and it troubles me that my memory for names is failing but that certainly happens to most people my age to some degree. I'm just glad I pursued getting that name because I didn't want to go over there and ask if I knew them. Estelle had my name right away. 

When I got home I texted Dave that I saw Estelle and Bill at Coles and she said Hi!