Snaps to Andrea...plus MY IC story...

Andrea posted about the 15th IC reunion and she has so wonderfully said so much of what I feel about the weekend. Plus she has posted pictures, which I am still remiss in doing. LINK

I always get excited to drive there (Ward didn't really drive the whole weekend) and pass the same landmarks. I remember how (and where) the radar detector in my little Subaru GL XLT would ping for various security systems along the way. My breath still catches as I crest Route 96B in Danby and get that first view of Cayuga Lake. My heart pounds with anticipation as I see the campus.

Ithaca was a huge turning point in my life as well. I started as a sheltered, scared little girl who had just been dumped by her high-school boyfriend (who went on to join the Marines and serve in the first Gulf War. He's still a Marine.). I was a band geek, who had at least gotten to leave home for international trips. Plus a few weeks of sleep-away Girl Scout camp in Port Jervis, courtesy of the home town Rotary Club. Most of my high school friends stayed at home and commuted to college, walking the tighrope between jobs and school. A few more went away for their own odysseys.

I was so sure that I was going to be a physical therapist. I volunteered in the PT office down the block and saw how they brought my mother back from the edge of permanent disability after a horrible car accident.

I did pretty well in high school and put forth very little effort. I had a tight group of band geek friends and played a few sports. I can't say I didn't know I was a dork, but by senior year, I didn't much care.

At orientation in July 1989, I met Sheri. We exchanged phone numbers and vowed to reconnect once we arrived on campus. In August I discovered I would be rooming in Rowland Hall with two other physical therapy majors. Sheri was living in Holmes Hall, roomed with Liz and across the hall from some other fun girls.

In the way that you think something is going to turn out so good, I called my prospective roommates, we had the discussion about who would bring what, blah, blah, blah. I left for Ithaca so optimistic, and a little worried about leaving my mom alone in the apartment.

It turned out that my roommates loved each other. And hated me. The cheerleader from Connecticut got on fantastically with the alpha girl from Sparta. Whenever I could I escaped to Holmes to hang with Sheri, Liz and their friends.

I spent most of the first half of freshman year miserable. I thought maybe I could find comfort in my friends from home, so I wrote several letters a day. If the recipient wrote back, it only encouraged me to write more. I was so down that I didn't even care that I was barely passing some of my classes. By sophomore year my social situation had improved dramatically, but I had missed the chance to learn how to study and do well in college. There was always a tv show, or a pizza or a party waiting somewhere.

Now the truth... I tell people now that I got to college and I realized that I didn't want to touch the kind of patients that I was exposed to. Pretty different from my upper-middle-class hometown. And that's true. But I had no idea that it would all be so HARD. For all intents and purposes, I quit physical therapy because I didn't want to fight the expulsion from the program that I was threatened with. And I chose Health Administration because I thought that it was as close as possible to the kind of work I had envisioned doing for the previous five years.

Lo and behold, I dd REALLY well in my new classes. My friends and I had our adventures...Syracuse, Boston, and of course all the amazing state parks.

By senior year, one of my last friends from the PT program was moving to Rochester for her intern year. One other PT friend (Cyndy) and I decided to room in the on-campus apartments with the gang from Holmes Hall: Andrea, Liz, Diane and Eileen. And as Andrea summarized so well, what a great time it was. Just seeing the apartments (which were painted white in our days, but are brick-faced now) chokes me up. The places we went, the laughs we shared...it's all a huge part of who I am.

It all comes back so quickly. I hadn't seen anyone in five years. In Christmas cards, I struggled to remember the names of the kid(s). Ward said when he saw the four of us former roommates sitting around the kitchen table the first night, he thought how amazing it was that we all slipped back into those roles from almost 20 years ago. And especially with the changes of kids, divorce and death swirling around us.

What an amazing group of people they all are. Great people living successful lives as contributing members of society. Great parents, raising spunky kids either inspiringly alone, or with a supportive partner. I have been blessed so many times in my life. But to be able to go back to Ithaca and remember the past, cherish the changes and laugh there once again...

Let's not leave it so long next time. Really.