It's two days days post-flight and what a time Joan and I are having! We drove to Danville, Illinois yesterday. This is my home town. Up until this trip, Joan and I have been able to spend the night at her childhood home, in the exact room where I spent the night so many times from the age of 4! Her father passed away 4 years ago and the family house was sold. We stayed at a motel. But that did not prevent us from visiting all our old haunts.
Memorable events include: 1.) a lunch visit with our former English teacher, Darlene Grimes. She was fresh out of college when Joan and I had her for English. So she is only 6 years older than we are. It meant a lot to her and to us that we were able to reconnect and remember those early days of her teaching career. 2.) trips around town to see where we used to live, where our friends used to live and visits to the graves of her mother, and my baby sister. Cemeteries are pretty fascinating as we see all the names of families that we knew growing up. We have always agreed that we could come back and spend an entire afternoon prowling around the cemeteries looking at headstones and remembering people from our past. Joan and I are nostalgia-junkies, and we are not above using cemeteries to get the memories flowing! 3.) our reunion party where we met with about 20 or so of our high school classmates and spouses. Always fun to catch up and to see who still looks young (none of us). It's also fun to be on equal footing with everyone finally. People who would not have given me the time of day are now happy to see me and interested in my life. Being an adult has its advantages. It was a challenging evening for me because it was Karaoke night at the bar and one had to shout to be heard over the volume of the music and mostly bad singing. But fun nevertheless.
Today we left Danville and came to Bloomington/Normal. Joan and I lost touch during college, but were only about 2 miles apart. . . me at Illinois Wesleyan University, she and the much bigger Illinois State. We prowled both campuses and had to marvel at the differences in our college experiences. Me at a small University and an even smaller school of music. My classmates and I shared all the same classes. I lived in the Sigma Alpha Iota house on Franklin Park. We went by there first and I was hoping to be able to go in. To my shock and delight it was not only homecoming weekend and open house, but my "sisters" were hosting the alums with an impressive lunch spread, recital and singing in the living room. I actually ran into three women who were at the house the same time I was. Poor Joan had to sit and listen to all of us sing all our rather sappy SAI songs. But I was in hog heaven! What a thrill to be back. I took Joan through the house showing her all the rooms where I had lived, and my picture on the composites that represented my college years. Then we hoofed around the IWU campus. I loved going back into the music building and reliving the experience of being there. I was overjoyed all throughout college at the small, intimate, family environment.
We then went to Illinois State and walked where Joan had walked during her years. She was much less happy with college than I was. The hugeness of the school and the inability to really hook on with a close group of friends made the experience challenging for her. But we did love being on the college campuses.
We checked into our hotel and there was a pool! So my first order of business was to walk the block to the Goodwill Store and buy 3 swim suits! They were $2.99 apiece, and I wanted to try them on! Two out of the three work great! I'll donate the third back to my thrift shop. So I went to the pool and moved around for about a half hour before we left for dinner. Tonight we went to Steak and Shake for dinner and then to see the movie "The Big Year." We enjoyed both the dinner and the movie.
Once again I marvel at the possibility that all of this wonderful time with old friends would have been lost to me had I not gotten on that plane! Yea me! More adventures tomorrow! Having a great time in the Midwest!
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