This morning I missed Amy. She used to work the till at my local Einstein’s Bagels. She was a bigger lady in her 40s or 50s with heavy makeup. She was friendly in a harsh loud way, but she always remembered me. I loved that, walking in and being remembered. Who wouldn’t? It’s the “Norm!” experience.

A few months ago Amy was missing every time I went in for a bagel. Briefly she came back, but she wasn’t the same Amy. She was a little less harsh and a little less loud and a lot less lively. Then she disappeared again; I think this time for good.

People like Amy make the world go around and I think about her and her existence outside of the little sliver I saw. I wonder about where she went and what happened to her. Was she physically ill? Was mentally ill? Is she working somewhere else? Would I recognize her outside of her Einstein’s habitat?

My bagel was fine this morning and the service was good, but it wasn’t quite the same without the spice Amy brought to the transaction.