When Faye Beard, 82, of Lewisburg, needed help with her new iPhone 11, she knew just who to ask. Faye and her husband, Robert Beard, 81, and Ken Landis, 79, have been meeting several years for Sunday breakfast with Luis Medina, 31.
The age and ethnic differences between Medina and the others are bridged with coffee, laughter and conversation.
As they settled in on a recent Sunday at Lisa’s Milltown Deli, the Beards asked Medina about his sister, Elba Arenas, who moved from their home in Puerto Rico in the ’90s and was recently promoted at the bank where she works. They teased Medina about his election earlier this month as president of the Lewisburg Borough Council.
“We’re very proud of him,” Faye said. “Of course, I was already proud of him because I had already adopted him, although he has a perfectly good mother.”
When Faye mentioned seeing baby pictures of Medina, she said, “He was adorable then, and he still is,” a statement that made Medina cringe with the tolerant smile that sons have smiled for generations.
The breakfasts started when the Beards befriended Landis. All three live in Lewisburg and are members of the Union County Democratic Committee. A Middleburg High School graduate, Landis had returned to the area after living in Washington, D.C., for 50 years. He liked living in Union County but missed the international connections he’d made as a pilot flying all over the world for Delta Airlines.
“I loved their stories because they’ve been overseas,” Landis said of the Beards, who travelled to many countries and even lived a couple of years in the 1960s in communist Yugoslavia. “If I didn’t have them to talk to about politics, I don’t know what I would do.”
Robert, who taught Russian at Bucknell University, talked about cultural changes he’s seen since first moving to Lewisburg 53 years ago.
“When I came to Bucknell there were not black teachers living in Lewisburg,” he said. “Real estate agents wouldn’t show them houses in Lewisburg. They took them all to Milton.”
John Zeller was the university’s chief financial officer and later held titles of vice president for business and fiscal affairs and general counsel emeritus.
When he discovered what was happening, he pulled the real estate agents aside and told them to either show all Bucknell candidates housing in Lewisburg, or the university would open their own real estate agency and require new employees to buy houses with them.
“So things started changing then,” Robert said.
“This is why I like meeting with them,” Medina said. “They’ve been through all this stuff. The ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s. I really like hearing about their life experiences.”
Through their Sunday breakfasts, Medina learns about Robert’s teaching experiences, Robert and Faye’s travels, Landis’ piloting trips up and down the coasts of South America and his stint in the Army spending 17 months in France. They also, of course, discuss politics.
Pointing out the difference between a country and a nation, Robert talked about the United States being a country, with no shared DNA, language, culture, etc. among its people.
“We’ve built ourself on being an open society,” he said. “It’s built on diversity. It’s not a nation. It’s a unique country.”
The friends discussed the Pledge of Allegiance, and Robert pointed out that the United States is the only country that has such a pledge — necessary for a country of immigrants. Landis talked about the phrase “justice for all” and how he interprets it.
“We’re all equal,” he said. “We’re all part of the human race.”
The conversation rolled through religion and spirituality, technology and friendship.
Faye explained to Medina the problem she was having with her phone. Taking it, he said, “Oh, that’s easy,” and began tapping away to correct the situation.
“He takes care of our computer problems and our phone problems,” Faye said. “We need him.”
As the breakfast drew to a close, the friends paid their bills and headed for the Beards’ car — Robert usually drives the four of them.
“And the conversation continues in the car,” Medina said as he walked out with the others. “There shouldn’t be an age on friendship.”
