"Your time here in college will be one of the best times in your life...."
Too bad it took me 20 years to realize the above statement......I just spent an amazing weekend back at my alma mater, Ithaca College this past weekend.....if someone told me in 1987 that I would go to Homecoming in 2010, and leave with nothing but wonderful memories, I would've slapped them silly....I found closure this weekend that I thought I would never have....
I spent Saturday reuiniting with friends from my older brother's fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia....although I have been close to a few of them in recent years, it was very nice to reunite with some of the guys who I have not seen in years, and in some cases, start a new friendship with some of the guys.....I'd love to say that I always had a great relationship with a lot of people from my college days, but alas, that wasn't the case....when I first arrived at IC as "Lee's Tag-Along Brother" in the Fall of '87, to say things got off to a rocky start would be an UNDERSTATEMENT....the Registrar's office screwed up my 32 transfer credits from my year at a community college (which also screwed up my housing), and my first few weeks of school were spent living in a dorm lounge with 4 obnoxious jocks, haggling with the registrar, and unfortunately endearing myself to most people who were around me....this haunted me for the entire time that I was in college, and in all honesty, its still bothered me all these years later....with everything that's currently going on in my semi-fucked up life these days, I was actually fearful that it would feel like 1987 all over again this weekend......I was very happy and relieved that this did not happen...
So to all my fellow IC alums that made me feel like I was one of the gang (and obviously forgot about the past), I offer a very heartfelt THANK YOU.....I thouroughly enjoyed our time at the cookout (the free beer was a bonus!), the game (I LOVED rocking out with the Pep Band!!), and our time hanging out afterwards in downtown Ithaca...I can truly say that this is now one of my favorite memories from Ithaca, and I look forward to making many more!
As for the quote above? I was in the Phi Mu Alpha dorm lounge on Saturday night (and I got to see my old dorm room from '87-'88....sweet!) before heading home, and I had a very inspiring conversation with some of the undergrad music students...it was probably more inspiring to me than it was to them, but they reminded me of why I love music in the first place....the quote above actually came out of my mouth (really!), and I can honestly say that I NEVER felt that way before this weekend, as I've always focused on the negative experiences from those days.....I guess time does truly heal all wounds!
LET'S GO BOMBERS!!