Time Traveling

A while back I shared a post with you about one of the most significant places and times of my life. (You can click HERE if you missed it.) From 1986 to 1990, the experiences I had at Judson College absolutely changed my life and although a lot of life has been lived since I left, there's something about that campus and those friends that transports me back in time and makes me feel 19 again.

J-Day 2009 was nearly perfect. We had beautiful weather, reunions with classmates we hadn't seen in decades, a bland meal in the dining hall, a step sing, a walk through our old dorm and Flat Tasha. (If the real Tasha had been there, it would have been completely perfect.)

On Friday I met up with 6 of my besties, including Tammy the Greek Grits bl0g celebrity, at a B&B in lovely Greensboro, AL. After feasting on Mexican cuisine we gathered in the parlor of the historic home for some raucous 80's karaoke. There was much laughter, some bad notes and more than a few moments of "I had know idea those were the words in that song!" There was also some very incriminating video taken. So we all made a pact that no one outside that room would ever view it. Which is a shame really because I know for a fact we'd have a viral video sensation on our hands with Jules & Amy singing "Play That Funky Music".



The next morning we enjoyed a beautiful breakfast prepared by our B&B owner. We sang the traditional Judson blessing together and slipped easily into conversation before she decided to interrupt with stories about herself. She also made it clear that she's only interested in hearing about you if you're an engineer from Atlanta. And if you happen to be from Opelika, don't even try. She's not hearing it.

Anyhoo, after breakfast we got all dolled up and headed to Judson for a day of reunion mayhem. This year, many of us were disappointed that our friend Natasha wasn't able to make it down from Oklahoma. Imagine how happy we were to find that our friend Peggy had brought along Flat Tasha to enjoy the day with us!



Oh, Flat Tasha had a lot of fun and visited many places and people on campus and even participated in our Step Sing, where she sounded a little...ummm....flat. (Sorry, that was corny and bad. I apologize.)



I especially loved that the president of Judson, Dr. David Potts, agreed to be photographed with her. He has always been the most gracious and dignified man who would do anything for his students. Obviously.



I loved seeing my fellow Music Major friend Laurie:



And visiting the old dorm room that Cubby & I shared:



I even enjoyed the hour-long wait for our food at the reunion luncheon. Mainly because I got a hug and picture with the Biology professor, Dr. Wilson, who shunned everybody else at the table just to see me.





But my favorite reunion was seeing my Music Professor and Voice Teacher Dr. Betty:



I'd just like you to know that this lady is proof that age ain't nothin' but a number. She's now 82 years old and has not changed one, single bit since I was a student there. At Judson, she's royalty and many have to stand in line just to have a word or get a picture with her. I was one of the lucky ones. I even got a hug!

She's still the funniest, fiestiest, sweetest lady on the planet. She also happens to be taking Tae Kwan Do lessons and gave us a demonstration on Saturday night.

Speaking of Saturday night, a few of us headed over to another B&B where several classmates were staying and enjoyed a night of catching up. Dr. Betty insisted we go around the room and share our stories of how we ended up at Judson. Then we made her share her story. That was when she reminded us that it had been 20 year ago that day that we buried her husband and our beloved Dr. Bracey.

He was the head of the music department when I started at Judson and passed away my junior year. Oh how we all loved that man. And it was evident that she still did too. I will always treasure the fact that I was able to be with her and so many friends that night and share those memories.

I also love that fact that while many of us were downstairs enjoying the story of a freshman prank played on Laurie (which was hysterical and pure genius, by the way), my friend Amy (and prankster extrodinaire) was upstairs short-sheeting Laurie's bed for old time's sake.

After loading up on Sunday morning and taking a few more photos and walks down memory lane, I headed back to Tennessee. I'm pretty sure it was no coincidence that I while scanning the radio I found an oldies station playing a flashback episode of Casey Kasem's Top 40 from 1983! I'd like to think that was a little wink from God. He gave me a great weekend of time travel with my friends and eased me back into the real world with the sounds of Michael Jackson and Phil Collins.

I hope we're all able to meet up again next year. And I hope Tasha's a little less flat and a little more talkative. Mostly, I hope I never forget how blessed I am to have these memories and these friends.