Day 6: Sentimental Journey

We had two goals on Friday (Day 6). The second goal was to get to U.’s parents house in Pittsburgh by Shabbat.

But the first goal was to see how much time we could spend at Oberlin College.

We got a later start than I hoped. A. just had had enough car riding and really freaked out when it was time to go. The poor thing was frantic, even as I tried to get her to take her anti-anxiety medicine. She spit it out at least 4 times before I finally got it into her. She was fine after that, but I certainly felt guilty.

We made it to Oberlin in time to spend only about an hour or so. No time to look up old professors or anyone else for that matter. But we drove around, and walked near some special places together. We split up a little to explore as well. We both noticed that although we had met there and begun our life their as a couple, we both wanted to remember things that had come before all of that. So we covered different parts of the college and town and finally had just enough time to run in and out of the museum. The Tending Of Saint Sebastian By Saint Irene is still one of my favorites.

Some of the highlights, for those who not what I’m talking about:

Wilder Bowl
Kosher co-op
The reservoir in the arb
Gibson’s (the same lady was there at the cash register)
The co-op bookstore
That statue across from J House. This time he was wearing a bike helmet.






A friend I have since spoken to says she always feels restful and at home when she goes back to visit Oberlin. But this has been my first time back, and I felt excited and busy. I remembered what it felt like to be frantic all the time over school work and my “activist” activities whether or not they were worthwhile and in fact found myself drawn to the student union where our most harried meetings had taken place. It was silent for the summer without a person in sight. I reflected how much work an elementary teacher has to do to set up a classroom before the fall and suddenly wondered just what a college or university staff has to do for the same purpose when in fact the students will pretty much take over the place soon enough.

I also noticed the heat and humidity in the air, and the bugs – could they be cicadas? – were so loud! It made me feel the same nervous sense I found when I came here after having left home for the very first time. And I felt like I was doing the same thing again, moving to this same climate to start a new chapter in my life.

Some days that feels better than others. I wasn’t sure how it felt on Friday. I guess today, Sunday, I don’t know either.