Homecoming

Sorry all you Madeline followers, for once it's not about her :)

We went to homecoming at Hope College last weekend.  Todd played in the alumni game for men's soccer and Madeline and I came along.  As I was walking her around campus and downtown, trying to get her to FALL ASLEEP!, memories rushed back.  Some of you reading this might not have known me in my college days, please try not to think of me as crazy after this!

The first place I walked past was the railroad tracks.  They run right on the edge of campus.  Many a new freshmen can remember the train those first two weeks coming through at 2 a.m.  After that, you sleep right through it!  I also jumped through a (motionless) train so I wouldn't be late to soccer practice one day...no extra running for me!  Good thing the train never started up!!

Then past Dykstra, the girl's freshmen dorm.  I met my good friend, Erin, in Dykstra.  We had some great memories there!!  We used to yell at the people below us to "GET OFF THE GRASS!" while they were walking.  Only she could understand.  I am laughing right now just thinking about it.  Strangely enough, right as I walked past the dorm, I saw my R.A. from freshmen year.  I said, "you were my pod R.A.!!"  Well, they weren't called pods, but clusters.  Silly me.  She just looked at my like I had lost it.  

On past J.P.'s, Holland's infamous coffee joint.  Way too much money spent there on caffeine buzzes I probably didn't need.  I DID learn to appreciate coffee there, when it wasn't drenched in mocha java caramel extra whip cream (or something like that).  When you left there, you smelled like coffee for days.  

I then circled on past Durfee, the men's dorm where Erin and I had to live one May Term.  Our room had just been vacated by the boys for the summer and it smelled like socks and raw sewage.  I'm not sure what they had been doing in there all year, but it was pretty stinky!  I abandoned Erin many nights there because I had some new boyfriend at the time (not worth it) and I always felt bad about that.  We were taking a history class that May and it was SO BORING.  So was our job.  We had to call people and ask for money for the college.  I pretended to call, but really did homework.  I didn't feel bad about that.

I then swung past the Dow.  Well, there are many memories there.  However, the best memory was when Erin, big football players from our hall and I played on an inner-tube water polo team.  That's right, pretty crazy!  It was a blast!  We won all the time.  After the games, we would go back to the dorm room, order pizza and drink cherry cokes.  I think we both gained some weight that semester!

Well, really, I could go on and on.  College East, Phelps, Pine Grove, Chapel, 13th and Central, blah, blah blah...but I didn't walk past those places, so it will have to be another time.