Bittersweet

I had a truely bittersweet moment on Thursday 4/7/11. Terry and I went to Elon University for the 2011 Convocation of Honors to listen to Brian Williams and a panel of 5 experts discuss the theme "We Can Be Better". The audience was comprised of Elon students who had acheived honors, parents of those students, alumni, and alumni parents. Various comments and statements from the panel directed at the students regarding their futures made me think back to both Mark and Matt's days at school and the hopes and dreams we have for them and their opportunity to effect the world. The discussion was enjoyable and something different for Terry and I to do.

The "moment" came when we stopped in Mosely Center to use the facillities and I was standing by a column outside of McKinnon Hall waiting for Terry and a flood of memories came back. It was 2000 and Matt, Terry, and I were going from room to room, filling in forms, standing in lines, listening to speakers, and collecting information and brochures. It was the day that our oldest son was officially entering college. We were all excited, afraid, happy, frustrated, but I think most of all proud. All in all at the time, it was what I think most parents and their kids think of as a typical harried day.

I remarked to Terry that it's amazing what your mind can store. I have never thought about that day since it happened, didn't even know I had the memory. Yet standing there in what I think might have been the same spot I had stood in 11 years ago brought it all rushing back in vivid detail. It was a brief glimpse back into the past. It's been rattling around in my head ever since. It was both a good memory and a tough memory. It made me smile inside. It made me glad that Matt had the opportunity to go to Elon. It was good to relive it even if only for a moment.