I find myself in the pleasant predicament of living in the same area as my Alma mater. From time to time I run over to the campus for one reason or another. A couple of weeks ago I wanted to drop off some German and Bulgarian books (so they could find a better home) and took the girls with me. I arrived on campus with a double stroller during the last ten minutes of the hour. This is the time when everyone is rushing from one class to the next. Talk about timing. As I tried to maneuver through the crowds and snow piles, I watched the students around me.
Aside from thinking how young they all looked, I saw students waving at friends and hollering their hellos. I remembered my days on campus were pretty much the same. By my last year I rarely walked anywhere without running into a friend or student from the GE class I tutored for. I smiled as I remembered those happy years spent on this campus. I even found myself looking, hopelessly, around for a familiar face. Where were all MY friends and associates? Since all my peers had left the campus years earlier I decided to visit some of my favorite professors. They were all, conveniently, in their offices. Redemption! Except the one I actually had questions for. He has retired. Man, I am old for being so young!
With this experience fresh on my mind, my girls and I started the new year by returning to the library by our house for their Laptime program. After Laptime was over, I was visiting with a few moms. I talked with the Children’s Librarian. Former neighbors, current neighbors and even my mom walked by! (My mom stopped, of course.) Another mom asked me about when I would be doing Laptime this month. I was grinning from ear to ear with all this social love happening right there in one of my favorite buildings. In a flash of insight I saw the library converge with and then replace my beloved university campus as the hub of my social life. The bustle is subdued and there are children’s voices at every corner and I am in heaven.
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