News out of Sackville, New Brunswick that Mel’s Tea Room is closing, sending Mount Allison University alumni into fits of nostalgia. Generations of Mount Allison University students ate, socialised and studied at Mel’s, and I was certainly one of them. It was like something out of a movie: green walls, counter with stools, hard booths, great diner food and strong coffee. Always someone coming and going. When I attended Mount A in the late 80s, their magazine section was second to none.

Town residents and students had an uneasy relationship at times, similar to the way people who live in a touristy city feel about those who crowd their streets. While residents knew that the university was good for the economy of the town, we students could certainly be a pain. At Mel’s, though, everyone sort of just got along on common ground. Even as thoughtless youth, we knew it was a place to revere and appreciate. Everyone loved Mel’s

I have only been there a few times since I graduated in 1989, the last being in 2013 when Steven wrote the lyrics for an opera presented by students of the Mt. A music faculty. I grabbed some shots on my last visit, the diner eerily sort of empty that night. I had my usual club sandwich and fries and soaked the place in, remembering all the fun I had there, all my pals, the thrill of being one in a long conveyor belt of students who felt at home at Mel’s, knowing I would eventually be replaced, but loving the smoke and coffee and fries and friends and laughter.