Thursday, September 15, 2011

more than words

i've been haunted by a song recently. you know when that happens... you catch an older song on the radio, and you think, "ahhhhh, i remember that song," or, "i remember when that was popular," or, "that reminds me of Mark Campbell.*"

*names changed to protect the innocent

and then, you hear that song three or four more times in a fairly short time frame, and all of a sudden it's annoying and you remember why you forgot about that song long ago!!

yeah... that.

so, this week, the song has been "More than Words," (Extreme) and it's taking me back to Senior Week. of college. 1991.

go ahead. do the math. i'll wait...

you with me now? TWENTY YEARS!!! it's been twenty years since i graduated from college!!!

twenty years is a really long time. it actually justifies (in MY mind) the fact that i don't remember more about my four years of college. they were good years. they were not the best years. but i have an overall fond recollection of learning and growing during that time.

my college FAQ:
Ithaca College, class of '91
B.A. Sociology
Dining Hall employee, two years
Collegetown Bagels employee, two years
Three years residence on campus
One year in an apartment on Ithaca Commons
Roommate of girls who used lots of Paul Mitchell hair products
Wearer of oversize Champion sweatshirts
Lover of Division III basketball
Connoisseur of many $5 Long Island Iced Teas

kind of unremarkable, actually. but i'm okay with that, given that i now know that my time to SHINE would come well after graduation. (it's still happening. trust me on this..)

while i still get a pang of remembrance every year around move in weekend, i'm steadfastly ignoring the urgent emails to attend this year's TWENTIETH reunion. my sketchy memories are quite suffcient for me. looking back, my time at IC was a blip in my lifeline. my experience was a springboard for what would come next, but it definitely did not define what would happen.

instead of going to the Finger Lakes and reminiscing about the four years spent there, i'm going to stay home and embrace the twenty years since.

twenty years gone by. a lifetime really.
more than words.

3 comments:

Patrick said...

I know that feeling all too well lol! That just happened to me yesterday.

michelle said...

I love this post, Lelly.

1991 was the year I got married! (and left college unfinished.)

I'm not one for reunions. I don't ever want to think that the highlight of my life was 20 years ago!

michelle said...

p.s. I am always hearing songs on the radio and having flashbacks and telling my kids things like, "this song was popular when I was in 8th grade!"

But I can't imagine 10-20 years from now hearing a song and thinking, "this song was popular when I was 40!" What's that about?