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six months before the mild concern set in as we watched everyone around us get pregnant with ease. Two of her sisters already had babies and were each expecting again. Other friends were starting families and I thought we just needed to give it some more time, but Emily's gynecologist didn't agree so off I went to my first urologist visit and it was all downhill from there.
    At some point during this walk down infertility lane, I fall back asleep and I'm awakened by music and groggily turn off the alarm. It's 7:00 and I struggle for a moment to remember what day it is. Suddenly my eyes shoot open with the realization that I need to get to work on time and meet Greg at the office by 8:30 so we can drive together for the meeting in Washington. Placing my feet on the floor, I sit on the edge of the bed and close my eyes for one moment longer before I head to the bathroom to shave.

Chapter 6

    I'm riding in the passenger seat with my boss as we speed out of the city. The meeting was a blur— I let Greg do most of the talking, throwing in a nod and a few 'yes, we can do that' statements without really knowing what the hell I was saying we could do. I'm sure we can do whatever they need and I'll just figure it out when it actually comes up. My head bobs up and down as I fight sleep until I notice things look a bit familiar. I perk up realizing that we're heading down Route One toward my alma mater, the University of Maryland in College Park. He must be taking a different route out of the city. Suddenly, I'm looking out the window with my eyes wide with anticipation.
    I've haven't been back on campus since I graduated more than twenty five years ago. I'm curious to see what has changed, and since I don't think we plan to stop, it’s fortunate that pretty much everything I'm interested in seeing is just off campus and visible from the road we're traveling on. I want to see if that little restaurant is still there— the one I worked in the summer before my senior year. And a stone's throw away from that was the frat house where I rented a room that same summer. I find myself smiling for the first time all day as the memories seep into my mind. It was the best time of my life for a number of reasons— I was making great money waiting tables, I was living a block away from the best bar on campus, I dated multiple girls that summer and it was also the summer I met Emily— life was really good.
    We reach the strip mall and my eyes scan the location where I remember Swensen's Ice Cream Restaurant to be and it's not there. I shake my head as I discover it's a fucking Cold Stone Creamery now. Nothing else seems familiar, although the bank building which sat separate from the strip-mall is still there, but it's now some name I don't recognize. The car slows and I crane my neck leaning forward in order to look around Greg to locate the frat house, but it's gone too— replaced by a parking lot. The car comes to a stop at the traffic light and I frown. Even though that frat house was falling apart when I lived there, I'm still shocked.
    "Shit," I murmur.
    "What?" he replies.
    "They're gone."
    "Who's gone?"
    "This frat house I lived in one summer and the place I worked."
    "That's right, you went here. Hey, you hungry? You know any decent places to eat?"
    Looking out the window to the right, I find something I remember, R. J. Bentley's Filling Station is still there. "This place didn't used to be so bad."
    "Great." The light changes and Greg makes a right.

    Bentley's hasn't changed one bit, not even the menu, I mean, literally they appear to be using the same worn out thick plastic laminated menu from when I last ate there. I recognize many of the sandwiches with their old timey automobile themed names like The Studebaker, The Rolls Royce and The T-Bird. I'm eyeing The Packard, which is chicken salad on a freshly baked croissant, even though I'm skeptical of the freshly baked claim, I settle on it anyway. Not the manliest of choices, but