A Trip Down Memory Lane
In the fall I made a trip back to Michigan to see my family and friends. My visits home usually are once a year and limited to about five days, so not much time to see anyone but immediate family. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic I had not been home in over two years. I decided to stay two weeks this visit to do some things that over the years I haven’t taken the time to do.
One of the items on my list was to visit Michigan State University, my alma mater, and see if some of my friends from the Rodeo and Block and Bridle Clubs were around for a visit. I was delighted when two of my dearest friends were able to meet me in East Lansing for lunch and a tour of campus for old times’ sake. Another dear friend was unable to meet us as she was showing at the Morgan Grand National in Oklahoma!
To say I was excited to see my friends and visit campus would be an understatement. I had not been back to MSU, nor seen these friends in person, in over 30 years. As I made the hour and a half drive from my mom’s house to campus, I was filled with happy anticipation. It was a pretty drive but I didn’t recognize the route. So much had changed or maybe it was that my memory had faded. Thank goodness for the little computers we call phones with GPS assistance.
When I arrived at the restaurant my friends were there waiting. The moment we saw each other it was like no time had passed at all. We reminisced about old times, Rodeo Club activities the friends we knew then and what some of them are up to now. We talked cowboy crushes, the parties, and the rodeos. One of my lunch companions married her MSU cowboy, and together they run a thriving veterinary practice in the state. The other friend also met her husband while at MSU, through this same cowboy!
After lunch we strolled through campus. We walked past my first dorm, walked along the Red Cedar River, and stopped by the massive football stadium where I attended every home game for four seasons. As we walked my friend the landscape architect, named all the trees we passed by them. We marveled at how she remembered all those scientific names! She shared that they had all been on her final exam. Her memory definitely better than mine.
I wanted to see the old Livestock Judging Pavilion where we had all spent so much time, They told me it was no longer there. The school had torn down the old building and built a new one off the main campus out near other agricultural buildings. At that moment a slight wave of sadness crept into this perfect day. That pavilion held so many fond college memories. The Rodeo Club clubhouse where we all hung out, the classroom where we took our rodeo queen written tests and the dirt arena where the rodeos, and horse shows were held was now a park and parking lot.
None the less, I wanted to step foot once again where all that fun had happened. There was a plaque on a pillar that described what had been there before. To me it hardly seemed enough to commemorate all that had taken place in the spot where we stood looking at plants and asphalt. The entire area seemed smaller in its current footprint than the huge building I remembered it to be. That’s the weird thing about memories, when we are younger, things seem larger than they are, or maybe it’s just our wide-eyed perception of them.
A trip back to Michigan State would not be complete without a stop at the student bookstore. My friends indulged me so I could purchase some new logoed gear before we all needed to hit the road. As we said our goodbyes we made plans for a reunion on New Year’s Day, when we were sure our MSU Football team would be headed for the Rose Bowl, and they could visit me in California.
Although I couldn’t remember the route or all the physical attributes of campus, my mind and heart did recall and relive the time I shared with these wonderful people during this special time in my life. A Peach Bowl victory will have to do until we meet again!
