They go away to college, and then they come home for a visit, and somehow everything has changed.

Stephanie, who has been gone nearly eight weeks now, came home from New York City recently, back to what was once her regular life in our small town.

I heard her on the phone on Saturday afternoon with a friend. She was saying, “Okay, I’ll meet you at Cilantro’s at five for coffee.”

“Oh, honey,” I said. “Remember that Cilantro’s closes at five on Saturdays.”

“Okay,” she said into the phone. “Let’s make it Cafe Grounded instead.”

“Um, Cafe Grounded closes at four.“

“All right, then–the bagel shop.”

“Well, sweetie, the bagel shop…I don’t think they’re open past lunch time.”

When she hung up, she looked at me and shook her head. “How in the world do people live here?”