Yesterday we took our kids to see the sights of our alma mater. It was great to be back at BYU. It was great to see all the old familiars. We were impressed by the new things.
The unsettling things were those that had changed.
The library.
I felt like what I imagine an Alzheimer patient might feel. It seemed like I should remember it. I did remember some things (the bathrooms and staircases are exactly the same) but I couldn't get my bearings otherwise...I couldn't even figure out how it used to look. It had changed that much.
In the library we also ran into a friend we knew in the Yale student ward. It was great to see him and reconnect. He had been Braeden's nursery leader (I've always hoped that Braeden having a Yale Divinity School PhD student as a nursery leader gave him a spiritual leg up). He had also changed though...he had a different wife than he did back in Connecticut...
The Cannon Center...the place where Adam and I ate most of our meals together (along with Erin and Rachel and Robbie), is gone. Gone. There's a new Cannon Center in its place.
Not the same.
The BYU bookstore was the same.
And we did our part to stimulate the economy (and give Braeden a reason to wake up at 6:30 this morning and quietly read in our hotel room).
We met Adam's freshman roommate and our friend Robbie for dinner at a park. We had not met his (very nice) wife and six (!) children so that was great. We reminisced about old times and old people. We caught up on the past several years. We talked like old friends. Because we are.
Mark was not his flamboyant self yesterday. He had tummy troubles and wanted to lay down most of the day. Poor kid...we made him forge on. Last night I was laying in bed with my arms around him, lending my motherly sympathy and I thought about our day.
I can't expect BYU not to change.
Especially when I consider all the myriad ways I have changed.
And I would never go back.
Because then I would not have my Mark in my arms...or Braeden and Emma for that matter.
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2 comments:
Sounds very fun. We are excited to have you back in the Silver State. I hope Mark is O.K.
I had the rare experience of being in the old and new library as they were constructing the new part during my five years in Provo. My S hall at deseret towers is no more. I wouldn't think the chicken cordon bleu or breaded shrimp tastes the same in the new cannon center. I love how the stairs in the old library are bowed from use and the smell of old books. I would go to the fifth floor with a view of the provo temple and plow through hours of homework and sleep under the desk. Good times.
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