One thing about college towns… The inhabitants all look so much younger than I remember feeling at the time. My first time on a college campus was when I was a sophomore in high school. My long-suffering parents drove me up to Clemson so that I could visit my then-boyfriend. When he broke up with me a month later, I detested him…but I set up an even greater dislike for the college girls who took him away from me. They were a breed not to be trusted. They seemed so much older…wiser…more mature and confident than I could ever hope to be. I forgave the guy (and the girls) almost as soon as I walked into my own dorm room two years later. I forgave him even more when I realized how hard it is to hold onto things back home. It was my turn to feel older, wiser, mature, and confident. Freedom. Enlightenment. All coupled with a heady mixture of responsibility and irresponsibility.
The past two weekends have found me walking the college paths that Johnathan and I walked along four…five…six years ago. Instead of walking my dog on front campus, I hold the hand of a three-year-old. The mirrors on campus have become much less friendly over the past few years. They make my eyes look old and tired. In fact, people in general have become less friendly. Professors smile greetings as they always did, but students turn uncaring eyes in my direction. I’m no longer one of them. They look...young. How ancient I must look to an eighteen-year-old… How young I must look to my grandparents. Time plays interesting tricks on perception, and I’m only beginning to notice.
My biggest regret is that I didn’t get to see more familiar faces while I was in Milledgeville. It’s sobering to realize that most of my old acquaintances have scattered. Subtle change is inevitable…especially as I become even further removed, but as long as the old buildings still stand…as long as the same old trees still whisper, the sleepy city and I will remember each other. It was nice to sit on front campus in the warm sunshine and feel welcome. The worn paths remember my feet as if I were walking there only yesterday. Earth has a longer memory than man.
2 comments:
I didn't make it to Alumni weekend this year - well I haven't made it to one ever - but I guess because I see the campus every day it doesn't draw me to go. Many of the people that I want to see - don't come down - or I find out about everything to late to go :( I didn't know the jazz band was performing - I wish I had because I would have loved to see some friends. You know the strange thing - even those that I went to school with that are close by... I never see and that is sometimes sad too! Next time you are down this way and the weather is nice - let me know. The girls can play together!
Sure thing!
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