Little D, how about a big D??

A professor and I drank beer on campus, in a car

     I was a journalism major at Northern.  I was also going to be the next Bob Woodward, the award winning reporter from the Washington Post.
     One of my instructors was a veteran newsman turned professor, name of Roy Campbell.
     Mr. C was irreverent, droll,  smart, and a good teacher and newspaperman.
     We had classes in what was called Reavis, maybe Reavis West, a stout, red bricked building almost in the center of campus.
      One night I was passing through the building and stopped off at the lab to see who was around.  Now we had a group of people who frequented the Shamrock in downtown DeKalb.  Mr. C called them seminars, and he presided over them regularly.
      Jackie went, and Julia even went once.....but as a one year old, she created quite a stir when she knocked over a been into the lap of one of the many under age drinkers discussing journalism.
      But I digress.
      I was passing through and noticed his office door was open, the light was on, and he was sitting at his desk, reading something.
      "Hey Mr. C," I said.  "How are you doing?"
      "Terry.....come in."  So I did, and we talked for about 10 minutes then he said, "Little D, how about a Big D?" he asked.
      He liked Drewrys beer, his Big D.
       I told him I had to head home, and didn't have time or money to head to the Shamrock.
      "Follow me," he ordered.
       We went to his car, parked illegally behind the building, and he said, "Get in."
       He then proceeded to pull out two cans of ice cold Drewry's Beer from a cooler on the back seat.
        He popped one, gave it to me, popped another, and took a big sip.
        I must have looked like a deer in the headlights!  Here I was drinking in a car, on campus, at night, with a professor.......nothing spelled academic dismissal any better than that.
       He noticed my hesitancy, then said, "Relax.  I do this all the time.  All the cops no me.  They won't blink an eye."
       So we sat there, drinking our Big Ds.....talking about the world, class, school, the future.  It was a moment when the man made me feel special, important, someone who mattered in the department and in the world.
      It was a moment I'll always cherish.
      I know he is gone, and I think Drewrys is too, although there was a story that it was being revived as a nostalgia brand.
      As I remember that night, it was one of the best beers I ever had.