Flyer Faithful - 35 Years Later

It’s hard to believe that I graduated from the University of Dayton 35 years ago.  Other than making me feel like I am really old, the opportunity to gather with Flyer faithful friends was much anticipated.  Over the years, this unique cultivation of friendship has been like the most cherished book on the shelf.  The one with the frayed cover you’ve read over and over again; the classic story that imprints in the heart.  And despite the new and latest bestsellers which come and go alongside this treasure, your favorite book is always the go-to for a good read.  This past weekend, my storybook friends gathered for Reunion Weekend at UD. I say with affection that we are a motley crew whose individual journeys offer varied textures and colors to our collective palate. We are lawyers, bankers, accountants, and writers.  Some of us have children, some of us don’t, but we all know what it means to navigate a life balancing relationships, profession, joys and sorrows. Because we know each other, we have learned to hear and see one another without expectation.  Sometimes we speak of travel to faraway lands, sometimes speak of travel through the quest for courage. Always, we count the days until our next gathering. Because our bond took seed at UD, the reunion weekends offer the best excuse to come together amidst it’s strong tradition of community kinship. The tenure of college friends is unique.  Unlike those bonds we cultivate at work, around the neighborhood swim pool, outside our child’s classroom or at church, college friendships require maintenance. College years, after all, prepare us to soar to new places.  And despite the attachment to closeness our college tenure cultivates, once graduated, we are forced to leave the cocoon and venture out to the world of adulthood and independence, searching for our own footing and quest to succeed in talent and happiness. Coming together is seldom easy, usually requiring noteworthy logistical effort.  Now, after 35 years, only blizzards keep us apart.  I’m glad that we all still really like to be together.

We resume the roles once etched years ago. One is the organizer, one is the accessorizer, one is the historian who remembers every detail of our UD tenure, one (that would be me) who can’t seem to remember anything. And then there’s the rest of us who show up bringing nothing more than the assurance that laughter, appreciation and love will renew despite the space of our diverse lives.

This weekend, we walked the streets and sidewalks of UD’s campus. We had the opportunity to reconnect with those who also graduated in the ancient year 1982. We reminisced as we walked by the UD Chapel still radiant despite the setting sun. We threw our arms around one another just like we did all those years ago once carefree singing the songs of alliance. We couldn’t have known that the innocent existence and boundless promise would be tested in the years beyond college. Each of us could write our own story rich in survival, loss, disappointment and reinvention, but the stupid stories of our collective beginnings are really where we begin.I rest in the memories revived and discoveries shared this weekend. The opportunity to gather on a porch at 11 am and linger for 11 hours in the radiant glow of our old friendship leaves me grateful. That favorite first edition book on the shelf of my heart remains in its rightful place of prominence. Until next time, my friends. Go UD!