The Old Stomping Grounds

This weekend I am in Mississippi, visiting GDizzle. Right now I am in the Mississippi State University Bookstore, using its internet. On the grounds of this university, I earned my undergraduate degree, met my husband, and had my wedding. MSU is located in the town of Starkville, where I was born and grew up. I'm back where I started and spent the first part of my life.

It's neat to see how the university has changed over the years. Many buildings I frequented have been torn down, rebuilt, or made bigger. The swimming pool where Steve and I met has been replaced by another building. Streets have been rerouted and new buildings have been built. While much has been changed, much is still the same.

As I walked across the campus, I still remember the feelings of walking to class. I still remember students and professors and buying books and standing in line to create a schedule. I still remember what it felt like to be here.

I guess that's the best part of memories. Though the physicality of things may change, the memories don't. Though a building or a person may no longer exist on this Earth, what those things meant to your life will always be with you. Though the very thing you remember has been replaced with something else, in your memory and life that thing remains as it was.

If we're lucky, we can visit the old stomping grounds and remember. We can look at what is and remember what was. We can remember the moments and the people that created our life stories. And we can be thankful, because it is those stories that make us who we are.