Greetings from good 'ole Motown, WV where it's cold, rainy, snowy and gray! Yay! Who needs Cancun, right? I'm here gettin' my Spring Break on, which is less break than work, really. There is no break in the life of a Ph.D.-- I'm learning that quickly; there's always something I can be doing. So, I'm spending time with my honey and trying to get some research and writing done so I don't arrive back at school looking like a total bum.
It's kinda weird to be back in Motown. Egocentric human that I am, there's a part of me that feels like the world stops revolving when I leave a place--- like here, for example. After two degrees and six years, I feel like I know this place and it's people pretty well. However, seeing old friends isn't quite the same. We can't complain about the classes, students and teachers we have in common. We can't have a ritual lunch, coffee or beer gathering every week at the same place. I miss out on all the little day-to-day dramas that make up life. People still know me but, it seems there is less and less to talk about. Even the town has physically changed--- a lot. There are new buildings, old buildings have been renovated and new apartment buildings are popping up everywhere. Nothing is exactly as I remember it. This is a sad realization for me. I enjoyed my time here tremendously and I miss it so, moving on and letting it go is hard. Coming back to visit my honey and my baby bro only rubs salt in the wound. I come back here multiple times a year and get to see this place slowly morphing into something I don't recognize.
In any case, I'm trying to enjoy myself as much as possible. There are favorite restaurants to eat in, friends to chat with and familiar streets to walk on that make me remember what it was like to be an undergrad. Sometimes a bit of nostalgia is nice; it makes you see how far you've come and how you got there. It's kinda like rubbing a bruise--- slightly achy but pleasant at the same time.
So, peanut gallery, what is it that takes you back to by-gone days? Music? Places? Smells? What do you miss from your past?
1 comment:
Well written article.
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