Everything Old is New Again
My wife and I moved our daughter into college this week. This is the baby of the family, so it’s going to be a change for all of us this time. She chose my alma mater, which has been a pretty awesome thing for me. I haven’t spent a lot of time there since graduation and while much was familiar, there were plenty of new things to see and learn.
When we arrived at the residence hall for check-in, there was music playing. It was The Beatles. Then Rush. And lots of ‘80s. I chuckled to myself. “Our generation really does have the best music,” I thought.
After decorating the dorm room for a couple of hours, it was time for lunch. We went to one of the landmark places on campus that I used to frequent myself. It looks the same, it smells the same, and the guests are still a mixed bag of diversity. Nationality, dress, some preppy and some that looked like they need a bath, haircut and a shave. Some apparent career-students who just couldn’t bear existing outside the college aesthetic. Aside from the prevalence of parents at most of the tables, it was like I stepped back into the same movie. It created a weird cognitive dissonance. Joe Walsh comes to mind, “Everybody’s so different; I haven’t changed.”
At the end of the day, it was that time. We hugged and said our goodbyes. It went pretty well…just a few tears. A sad but necessary rite of passage for parent and child alike. I shook my head. Wow, that was a fast 18 years.
Who would have thought that 35 years ago, when I left campus, that I would be back someday for four more years? Life is a journey. God is good. And everything old is new again.