The last sentence for example, could be interpreted as a reference to the famous poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson called "Ulysses". That poem is about an ancient Greek hero who travels across many countries looking for happiness but he never finds it so he decides to turn around and go home. In the same way, the last sentence in this story ("I guess that's why they call it a trip down memory lane...") hints that the reader should look at other stories from Tristan Cafe author Michael Damian Thomas to fully understand the meaning of his work. Thomas has written over 100 stories so far and each one of them can be read in one sitting. This narrative is no exception - you will finish it in less than 10 minutes but will still get a lot out of it. Tristan Cafe is a story about nostalgia. It talks about memories that bring us joy now but that once caused us pain. Sometimes we forget how we used to feel because soon enough we start new experiences that make us happy again but sometimes not completely. When this happens, we need to remember what made us sad in the first place so we can move on with our lives.