While I made coffee, Terd and I talked about events since he’d left. Not since my visit on the day the SUV slid off the road had we talked, except for one or two short phone calls. I wanted to hear what Terd was doing or planning to do since we’d last met.
"I didn't take the teaching job," he said. "It wasn't a real job, just an adjunct lecturer. And with freshman. Have you been in a high school lately, Jesse? The students don't get much better after they graduate and come to college. There's no discipline anywhere these days."
"Well, we're a couple of old codgers," I said, "and the world is changing on us."
"You're the old codger," he laughed. I laughed too, but not with much relish.
"So, did you come up here to help out this old codger," I asked
"I came up here to ask my abbot if I can return to the Brothers," he said.
That stunned me. There is nothing more I would want than to have our old bear back and among us. His enthusiasm, when directed, would be invaluable. Plus, he was the smartest damned person I'd ever met. And everyone liked Terd. You couldn’t help it.
"I'm sorry, Terd," I said. "I can't say yes. I need to think about it."
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