A weekend in memory lane

The last weekend was a trip into heaven and back for me. No, not for my family - my kids who are my universe now; or my ever supportive husband. Just me .... and my memories. The opportunity to discover who I had been when I was still growing up. (I meant in the rhetorical sense. In the physical sense of the word, I continue to claim more space around my expanding persona!)

This opportunity came by way of a college reunion. And not just any college, mind you. It was a college that possessed you from the moment you set foot in it. A college that threw your pompous individualism into oblivion if it interfered with the knowledge transfer happening inside its periphery. A college that put you through trials by the fire within the campus, to prepare you for all the possible tribulations in the world outside.....

The reunion was all that I had anticipated, and much more. While there were instances of me looking out for faces I hoped to see after a decade and did not, there were also endearing moments that etched itself into the innermost corners of my heart. A few beautiful words from unexpected quarters, a few smiles that said all was forgiven, a few hugs that left us wondering how fast the years have passed by........

There were a few instances which felt like the warmth of a hot cup of coffee by the fireside; on a cold winter night:

• A friend meeting after 13 years, sitting with me and saying nothing for a few minutes; and then commenting "You seem to be very quiet today. All ok?" Just as if we had picked up where we left off...
• Another friend rushing to my side, and rather discreetly asking, with a worried expression, if I needed something to eat. I realized, upon looking at him, that he probably thought I needed extrication from unwanted attention!!
• My role model sitting right behind me, and I had somehow missed spotting her. The hoot I let out when I did finally see her.....
• Someone stopping me in the hallway, and calling me by my maiden name.... something I haven't heard in 11 years
• Singing and laughing away late into the night, along with friends and seniors (exactly when both became one and the same, is still hazy....) from college - a reminder of the many get-togethers we'd had earlier - in what seems like a previous birth now......
• A passing mention of a song rendered with the mirth that only rebellious youth can bring, which then contributed to many memories of the same rebel-without-a-cause age
• Seeing surprised recognition in the eyes of many.....
• Realizing how far we've come, and yet, how little we've all really changed .... AMEN to that!!

One of the first things I did when I came back was to give my kids a tight hug. I then proceeded to tell them what a good time I had. My daughter came up to me, and told me I was a happier Mom now than when I boarded the taxi from home. And I promised her I would remember to be a happier mom for a long time, and that the next time I get the chance to travel back in time I certainly would take her with me.