The "Cliffhanger" Is Over!

Well, that was unexpected! After my last post, I fully anticipated I would be writing Jubilee: Part Two. But...I got sick and so did our computer! I'm glad to report that we are both back and raring to go!!!

Here is a brief synopsis of the rest of my wonderful weekend at Trinity...

Saturday, October 3

Elise spent the night with Alice and I and was NOT ready to get up and "seize the day", so the two "oldies" got dressed and took a walk. Alice and I walked to the Corner Bakery, had a delicious breakfast, and took our time strolling down memory lane. It felt wonderful to relax over coffee and tea and rehash the great time we had the night before.

Once we got back to the room, Elise was still in bed and it took some "Mama-sized" urging to get her rear in gear. We drove to campus and went to the new Communication Arts Center. Once again we ran into old friends. Dave DeJong asked Alice if "little Joycie Popcorn" was with her. Dave is the son of Dr. Alex DeJong, the first President of the college. Dr. DeJong and my father were best friends when he pastored our church in Grand Rapids. He renamed me "Joycie Popcorn" after spending a LONG time in the car with me when I was about 4 years old. I tagged along on a trip from GR to Florida and I guess I must have been a "handful" (that's what they called kids with ADHD back in the day!!!). It was great to see David and recall our childhood memories. When we were about 5 and 6, Dave stayed at our house while his parents were gone. My dad gave David a little doctor's kit and my dad truly believed that he was the reason David became a doctor! Actually, David is a medical doctor AND a lawyer!!!

The infamous Joycie Popcorn...looks pretty innocent...but beware!!

Next, we attended a "Last Lecture" series. Two professors, Dr. Seerveld and Dr. Mike Vander Weele shared with us what they would talk about if they knew this was their last lecture. Before Dr. Seerveld spoke, I shared a few moments with him. I told him the story about how our family went through Katrina. One day, when I returned to our "rumble", I noticed a spiral notebook. I picked it up and paged through it. It was my Philosophy 101 notebook from 1970! There I was, standing in a place that looked like a nuclear bomb had recently detonated, and amidst all the rubble and trash was my perfectly preserved notebook. As I read over the pages, I could hear Dr. Seerveld's voice, and I was reminded of the rich words he used he used in class - words like "gegenstandt" and "a priori" and "sphere sovereignty". He taught me to never teach in a box, in isolation. Because of him, when I taught high school students American Literature, I also reviewed what the historical times were like for the writers, what the culture was like. Why? Because those were the things that influenced the literature. When I taught about the poetry of the Puritans, I taught my students about the religious views that molded the writers. It baffles my mind that I could stand in a public high school in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and explain how these Puritan authors saw everything "through the lens of Scripture". I was glad I could share with Dr. Seerveld the fact thathe, without ever being in Mississippi, had left his mark on hundreds of developing minds in Pascagoula!

Dr. Seerveld doing what he does best!!!

ALice and I then ventured off towards our old dorm...which, by today's stands, really does look OLD! We knocked on the door, but everything was locked. Wait!!! Someone answered the door! It was the Provost and she graciously let us come inside and snoop around. She even unlocked the door to the suite that Alice and I shared in '73-'74. Today, these are offices for the professors.

Me standing in my old room. If those walls could talk...
The two of us in our old bathroom

Next, we took Elise and her boyfriend, Tommy out for dinner. We went to the restaurant that I worked at during my senior year in college and the summer after graduation.

Alice and Joey...just like in the good old days!

Elise and Tommy (the pitcher of the baseball team)

All four of us

On Sunday, Alice left for Canada to spend time with her family. I went to the Chapel service and heard Elise sing in the choir...beautiful! We hung out the rest of the night together, she slept with me at the hotel, and Monday morning I took her back to campus. When she was done with classes, we rode together to the airport and said our farewells...leaving me to savor wonderful memories.

Trinity's Chapel

My Mother and I after a day of shopping with my college buddies...standing in front of Dorm Two way back in 1970

Sunday Chapel Speaker