in memoriam

if (repeat) subject lines are any indication of things, i’m thinking i made a grave error not naming this blog “in memoriam” as my entries always seem to be about missing/memorializing/paying tribute to one thing or another.

still. . .i gotta say that it seems decidedly odd to be here (i.e., in this place, at the start of a new semester) and to be without a class with elizabeth, keith, laura, magpie, or brittany being present and a part of things. ah, stay at any job more than four years, and you are likely always to be the one feeling left behind. [note: i’ve only been here a year and a half and am already feeling left behind. drats.] still. . .

i remember firsts: keith and elizabeth sitting on the wooden bench near sondheim after the first meeting of 324 during my very first semester here. they were smoking, chillin,’ waiting for traffic to die down. i passed them and she calls out, “hey shipka? we don’t wanna be your friend either.”

i remember firsts: thinking the anonymous in-class writing actually produced by sarah was magpie’s. telling magpie that i always thought so—that i had confused her with another. and later: telling her that i increasingly admired her work but never telling her that i deeply admired her calm as well.

i remember firsts: brittany reminding me that it’s not too late—never too late. providing me with a “learn how to play guitar book.” following this up with an in-class live performance of an original song that made me cry (but in a good way) for days and days.

i [don’t always] remember first firsts: but i am capable of remembering all the “at the times” and all the “afterwards.” laura fast becoming the someone i wanted to be when i grew up. class act all the way.