I smiled while watching my parents drive away from my sorority house and down Judson Street to begin their trek back home this past Sunday, wishing the Family weekend was not quite over yet.
Both of my parents are alumni, my dad class of 1981 and my mom class of 1983. They met at St. Lawrence in the beginning of the spring semester after my dad had returned from a junior fall studying abroad in Copenhagen. My mom was a freshman and only eighteen at the time. Now here they were 35 years later, visiting me for Family Weekend, their own personal version of homecoming.
As we reminisced on our weekend together at Sunday breakfast, we laughed thinking about the football tailgate we spent hours at, eating dogs and catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. We had attended the silent auction in the student center, watched the women’s soccer team beat X, and of course bought new SLU apparel in the Brewer bookstore.
When I insisted the previous night that my parents come to The Hoot Owl Bar with me, I was ready to put up a fight. Much to my surprise my mom exclaimed, “alright, let’s do it!” before I could even test my argument.
“We love The Hoot,” my dad said matter-of-factly and agreeing with my mother.
Oh yeah…I realized.
“Well you haven’t seen it in a while,” I blabbered.
According to them, the bar looks exactly as it did in 1981.
My mom explained, The Hoot Owl is in “a time warp that never changes; everything is the same, except for the electronic juke box. It is definitely the only place you can still order two glasses of wine and one Labatt’s for just eight dollars.”
Even at The Hoot, the sense of camaraderie between St. Lawrence students and families is undeniable. The students here are more motivated than any group of people I have ever been a part of. Everybody is involved in half a dozen different activities and clubs, and yet I feel this community is one of the most inclusive and welcoming places I have ever been a part of.
Each time my parents return to the St. Lawrence campus, they are instantly reminded of the collective affability of the people here. The people here make up part of the same community that my parents were a part of in their four years here, and the same community that they have carried with them throughout adulthood.
I always admired the bond that my parents had with their college friends, and now I understand why they felt so special.
St. Lawrence is my place too, and the bond that being a Saint brings is unique and a very lucky phenomenal to be a part of. I could not be happier to share this bond with my parents, and with the alumnus that will be returning this weekend for Homecoming. And I was reminded of that this Family Weekend.
I remind myself to cherish the time I have left here because I’m not ready yet to wear my dad’s “St. Lawrence Alumni” hat yet.