(K)VEGAS part 1: Nostalgia

A few months ago I was notified that one of the professors I was closest with from TSU was retiring, which of course means a mini reunion and a trip to Kirksville, Missouri. This place, where I spent a chunk of my formative years, is somewhere I very regularly joke about. I knew it as a place in the middle of nowhere fixed with a Walmart, Pancake City and a train bridge (it is exactly what it sounds like...a bridge that is suspended over train tracks where we would go and sit for fun). Once I graduated from Truman, I didn't think I would miss it as much as I have; so at the opportunity to go and visit my old stomping grounds, I was ready.

Friday morning, I got in my car and drove the two hours to my parents house to drop off my dog, and then the next morning, drove the remaining four hours to Kirksville. The first thing I did was meet with one of my college mentors and dear friends for brunch on the north side of town. To see her face, hear her laugh, and listen to her beautiful Australian accent, brought me back to being 20 years old and being so confused as to why such a cool woman would want to hand out with me. We spoke of old times, what has changed, how we have changed...I don't fully understand how so much could happen in such a short amount of time. After we parted ways, I stopped by the CCF house on Halliburton which was next to the house I lived in while in college. It still had the stairs the creaked when you walked up them, the encouragement board to leave notes, and the walls were covered in posters from events passed some with pictures of friends I haven't thought of in a long while. The walk to campus was so natural, like I never left.

Around Truman there was a joke that I couldn't walk around campus without running into someone I knew. I guess that statement still holds true. Walking on campus with a friend I shared my Acting 1 class with and her fiance. To hug an old friend who I not only shared acting with but a friend who shared so many vulnerable moments with while trying to find our voice in the theatre, it felt safe. To see them so happy, to see her more confident, it meant the world to me.

I will admit, sorry Truman security, I attempted to (and on one occation, successfully) break into some of my old classrooms and work spaces just to see if it changed. Is it weird that the smell hasn't changed? Is it weird that when I went to Truman as a student I hated the smell, but now it has become a small comfort? Or that I LOVE the fact that while walking through the music halls, I could hear someone playing piano?

When I made it to two of my favorite Kirksvillian's house, I was ready to talk about ministry and what actually matters. That I will go into more detail on Thursday.

As for now, I am sitting in Pickler's Famous which has been converted into Take Root Cafe which gives free and locally sourced food to people in need, so if you are ever in K-Vegas, go check it out.

See you on Thursday,

Cheers!

Sam Jo.