For reasons that are my own and that I may or may not write about one day, I’ve been a little nostalgic this week.
This is sort of one days.
The day was Saturday, October 23, 1976. For some reason, that date has always stuck in my mind.
I was a freshman at Asbury College (now University) in Kentucky.
As a community building event much of our class gathered on buses and traveled a few hours to Natural Bridge State Park…no…not the Virginia version…that has other memories and other stories.
Several dozen of us spent the day in the Kentucky mountains amidst the fall foliage. As a friend and I climbed the mountain, we heard singing. Several of our classmates had already made it to the top and had begun an impromptu time of worship.
It was one of those picturesque scenes that you might find in a movie when the protagonist is having a pensive, life changing moment.
Unfortunately it was years before our school would have a film program and cell phones were non-existent.
Still, I think some lives were changed that day. Friendships were formed. My roommate met his future wife.
During our 47 years of house arrest memories like that or certain songs can be like a warm hug.
Face it, that’s the only type of hug most of us are getting these days.
I could rattle off a list of things that are stressful in my life right about now.
But, so could you.
Instead, I’ll dwell on this memory a little while longer. Maybe tomorrow I’ll find another one.
Although this one still has a good supply of warm fuzzies.
My son asked me last night if I remember a time before we all had to wear masks.
Of course he was joking, mostly, but I have to admit it’s hard to remember a time before this pandemic.
That day on the mountain, we weren’t worrying about a pandemic. We were the generation that came of age during Watergate and the end of the Vietnam War. We had other things to worry about.
Like an upcoming election.
Some things never change.
I’ve changed a lot since that day in the mountains of Kentucky. I’d like to think some of that day stayed with me and I changed for the better.
Maybe I need some time in the mountains to think about it.
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