PEAR HUGS

AS COMFORTING AS A LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP (AND AS SPECIAL TOO), THESE PEARS COME WRAPPED IN PASTRY, DRIZZLED WITH CARAMEL AND INFUSED WITH GOOD FEELS.

- LEAH ESKIN

Come as you will be, the poster Cread. It was an apt party theme for college students who had achieved nothing, save our status as sophomores.

One friend slung a whistle around her neck, a substitute gym teacher. Another stuffed her pockets with Monopoly wealth. I wore a tropical-print sleeveless blouse tucked into matching shorts that fastened at the hips like diapers, in the era before the use of Velcro or fashion. I was aiming for surfer but landed far short of accuracy, irony or dignity. Still, as nights out go, it ruled.

Recently the same friends gathered for another costume party, this one themed, "Come as you became." (The alumni office called it reunion weekend.) The substitute gym teacher now works to house the homeless. The millionaire is a gazillionaire. And I'm a surfer, if I'm honest about my online habits. So, we were close.

We told old stories, slept in old dorms, cued up old albums. Were we...old? That thought landed with accuracy, with irony, and with little dignity.

On the last night there was a big bash with a crushing soundtrack and awesome outfits. Even the snacks, caramelized pears, showed up in a mummy-wrap of buttery pastry. We admired their tenderness, their creativity, their moxie.

As parties go, it was a smashing success. Though all the guests wore matching expressions: wistful.