I was studying Latin on the subway, and an old woman* sitting next to me drew me out of my book & began reminiscing about her years studying Latin in high school. "I went to an all-girls school." The second before I asked her, I knew what the answer would be: she had gone to my high school — had graduated in 1939. "The French teachers were fantastic. Whenever I forget a French word, all I have to do is remember Miss —, and it comes back to me… Eleanor Roosevelt spoke to us." "Oh! When I graduated, we were told that 60 — or 70 — years before Franklin Delano Roosevelt had given the graduation speech on that very same stage." "Miss Verplank [or Vanderplank?] of the Verplanks was our Latin teacher." I looked blank here. Who were the Verplanks? Are they in an Edith Wharton novel? "She dressed in purple from head to toe." Just like Mrs. Wilson! I wanted to say, but held my tongue, because I wanted to hear more. (I learned in high school that Woodrow Wilson's wife took to wearing purple toward the end of his life, and she attributed some of her influence to the power of purple.) Maybe Miss Verplank just wanted to wear the school color. "The only man in the school was the janitor. Once a troupe of actors visited to play Shakespeare, and when the lead actor strode onto the stage we all sighed in unison. Afterwards the headmistress gave us a talking to: 'Girls, you must not behave like that.'" At Union Square, unfortunately, she got off the train. I was headed for my Latin class, and when I got there I told the teacher — who also went to my high school — about my chance encounter on the subway.

* I realize "old woman" is a blunt phrase, & I considered changing it to something else, but all the alternatives seemed clunky and idiotic. If we say "young woman," why not "old woman"? Is it so terrible to be old? She certainly carried it off well.