A little vacation
71,004 people packed Memorial Stadium. I estimate 41,000 left at halftime. We did.
About a month ago, I decided I needed to see some familiar faces and places so I bought a plane ticket to Missouri. The best time to do this happened to be during homecoming weekend, when the Tigers were set to play Texas. I left Thursday after work and got back yesterday morning in time for my school board Monday schedule.
The homesickness I felt when I bought the ticket had faded by last week, but I was still happy to go. I ate at Cafe Berlin (twice!), tailgated, watched the Tigers play, drank my favorite coffee, walked around campus at night, caught up with old friends, enjoyed cinnamon ice cream from Sparky’s…
A good friend pointed out that it’s not the place but the people that you’re with who matter. She’s right, and the weekend might have been better had the old crew been around. There definitely would have been more music, more wine and more laughter.
But it was still a great weekend. It felt good to talk with people who know a little more about me than the last two months of my life and small details that creep into office conversation. It felt good to call Columbia home when I lived there. It feels good now to know I can always go back.