A Trip Down Memory Lane

Each time we visit our alma mater, it's a trip down memory lane for Mark and me.  We hold a special place in our hearts for the university that brought us together, and there are many wonderful things about WFU that make it feel like home each time we return.  Some of our favorite things about Wake Forest, then and now:

 Festival on the Quad: 

It may be an annual family event for us these days, but we had many parties and celebrations on the quad during our college years, too.

WFU Athletics:

True and loyal fans, we always enjoy cheering for WFU athletes, and have dreams of future scholarships someday:

The Deacon Shop:

There's never enough WFU apparel in our house, and we picked up this cute little kid as a souvenir:

Wait Chapel:

-After all these years, and seeing it literally thousands of days and nights, Wait Chapel still takes my breath away.  This majestic symbol of our university served as a backdrop to our family game of catch and races on Friday afternoon. 

The Demon Deacon:

There are smiles, high fives, and hugs all around each time we greet our beloved mascot!

Campus:

I know that I am biased, but I think that Wake has one of the most beautiful college campuses that I've ever seen.  I love the red Georgian brick, the pristine landscaping, the multiple outdoor areas to sit, read, and study.  Our children made themselves at home as we walked around campus, proudly donning their WFU shirts:

I was exactly half my age when I lived in this freshman dorm!

View of Reynolda Hall at night.

Here's an interesting tidbit about our recent trip to Wake Forest. 

We realized that Luke is now closer in age to the current freshman class at WFU than Mark and I are.

Yikes.

The funny thing is that when I look at students, I completely lose perspective of the age difference.  How can they be so much younger than me, as I am certain that I look exactly the same as when I attended Wake?  Perhaps it is because everyone that I’ve met here has been about this age (18-22), and so time seems to freeze each time I step onto campus and enter “the bubble”.  Maybe the smells, the sights, and the sounds of WFU are all so familiar and comforting that I am lost as memories rush back to me, and this nostalgia transforms me into a younger version of myself. 

And then, the following true story occurs.

After spending a gorgeous afternoon on campus, our family approaches our parked car.  Seeing our license plate, a student leans his head out of the driver’s window of his nearby car and shouts, “Hey, where in South Carolina do you live?”

“Greenville,” I reply.

“I’m from Charleston,” he responds.  “I was trying to figure out who you guys were…”

“Oh, you don’t know us,” I call out, momentarily flattered that he mistook Mark and me for peers. This totally validates my theory that we haven’t aged at all since we have graduated.  Somehow I overlook that I have two kids (and a dog) in tow, and am buckling them into car seats in our family SUV. 

“We’re old…” Mark banters. 

“Well, you’re not that old,” the student laughs, and drives away.  I am left standing in the parking lot, contemplating what just happened.  Did he mean, "You don't look old enough to be parents," or was it more of a "You're not as old as my grandmother," type of sarcasm there? 

That's the beauty of returning to a place that you once called home.  It's easy for the last 15 years to effortlessly slip away in your mind as you walk down memory lane.  For a moment in time, you are young and innocent again.  And then your illusion is shattered, and you are jolted back to the present in an instant, when Mr. Charleston reminds you that there’s nowhere else in your life that you’d rather be.  Old and all. 

Dear old Wake Forest, thanks for a great weekend of family fun.  How blessed are we to reap the gifts that you have given us, over and over again, as we share you with our children!