Mara from the Robarts carrels

Where & when

• University of Toronto Robarts Library · Toronto · Canada 2008–2010 history seminar and the library carrels

About them then

Mara · about 21 then

A classmate from my history seminar who claimed the same carrel every night. Always in a yellow raincoat, with a steel thermos that smelled of something spicy, and a talent for explaining the week's reading in three sentences.

Who I was then

The guy two carrels down who borrowed your highlighters and never returned a single one.

Why I'm writing

To reconnect · Just hoping to know they're well

During finals my second year, we kept finding each other at one a.m. in the same corner of the library. You never talked much. You just slid the thermos across the divider and went back to your notes. I passed that exam because of your short summaries. After graduation we promised to get coffee, and then I took a job overseas and the promise slipped away. I still own one yellow highlighter that I am fairly sure is yours.

Passed on by 0 · reached step 0 · 0 keeping an eye out