RDAU_2026-ISSUE0809_DIGITAL MAGAZINE

At the restaurant, I approached the student, who had started eating her dinner, the shock of the day’s events reflected in her dark eyes. She ac- cepted my invitation. “We have dogs,” I said, once we were in the car. “That’s OK. I have a dog at home. Tofu.” “What?” “Tofu—that’s his name.” I took in the strange coincidence. “Are you connected to Brown?” she asked. My answer seemed to put her at ease, and she looked even more re- laxed when we pulled into the drive- way after a few blocks. I loved that she’d come along so easily, especially in the midst of such turmoil in the world at large. Once we entered the house, the woodstove warmth and the smell of spiced butter for our Nashville tofu sliders made us feel cozy. Our guest sat at the kitchen table and texted her parents, her brother (a senior at Brown, locked down in his dorm) and her friends that she was safe. Our teenage daughter, Hazel, came downstairs, and we all talked over dinner. Something about having this student in the house centered and comforted us. We made her tea and gave her a fleece to keep warm. She sat down at our piano and played a Tom Waits song; Dave played the guitar. All the while, we kept check- ing our phones for updates. As the night wore on, more links be- tween us came to light. When her high school principal texted her, I realized she’d gone to the same school my father had attended. She mentioned she’d lived in northern Thailand when she was little. I texted my rowing part- ner, who also grew up in Thailand, confirming that she, too, was from Chiang Mai. The young woman seemed com- fortable from the moment she came in the door and slipped off her shoes right up to bedtime, when we put her in the room that used to be our son’s—he’s now in California. It didn’t matter that she was in a house belong- ing to people she didn’t know. And we felt that she had returned us to a place of humanity, where every- thing we shared held more importance than locking the door. SHE’D COME ALONG SO EASILY, ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDST OF SUCH TURMOIL. FROM THE BOSTON GLOBE (JAN. 7, 2026), © 2026 BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED UNDER LICENSE. 98 August/september 2026 | reAdersdigest.com.Au See product labels for full claim details and directions for use. *Based on industry reported Sales Data for AU MAT Q3 2025. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Australia Pty Ltd. Level 1, 78 Waterloo Road, North Ryde NSW 2113. ABN 53 071 187 285. ® NexGard and NexGard SPECTRA are registered trademarks of the Boehringer IngelheimGroup. PET-0049-2026 2026 P e t C a r e P AUSTRALIA’S # 1 PARASITE PROTECTION RANGE FOR DOGS. * Trusted protection in a tasty chew.