It was a hard goodbye, perhaps the hardest ever. In early May we shut the door on our first home away from home. We turned in our keys. Gave one last hug to the people who became our best friends. To put our new lives on pause until we returned in the fall.
It was a long time coming. The city was calling for me to return, but I could not yet. We spent three long months working away at part-time jobs and taking summer classes and watching as the clocks tick by. We waited so patiently to get back to the lives that we had come to love.
After a long summer of waiting, the day finally came that we would be reunited.
The air was sweet when we stepped back on campus. The seagulls flew high over our heads. Not a cloud was in the sky. The sidewalks were full of chatter and laughter.
We were back.
After you have been away from your place for too long, the memories seem as distant as the place is from you. It can be easy to forget exactly why you love that place as much as you do. There is this disconnect between you and your place; all you know is that you love it and you cannot wait to return.
But the minute you step foot in your place after a long hiatus, the memories return to you. They wash over you like a tidal wave. You feel it when you see the faces of all the loved ones you left behind. That “I have not seen you in forever and I cannot believe we’re back” hug. We ate the subpar dining hall food and we were giddy. I remembered what their laughs sounded like and their stupid jokes. I remembered how slowly they ate. I remembered why I didn't mind because it meant longer time spent with them.
We were frozen in this euphoric world and I remembered exactly why I fell in love with this place. Everything got stitched back together.
Holy cow, I love this place.
It is special people in a special city that encourage you to be a better person. That inspire you to grow. I fell in love with this place because I can feel it transforming me. Because it is a part of me and it always will be. Because it became my home when I was far away from home.
If you ask me how it feels to be back?
It feels like I never left.
