The Place Where I Come From

I graduated from Clemson University in 2000 and left school with my diploma in my hand and never looked back. But, all those years of school changed me. I grew up at Clemson and became the person I am today. I learned and grew, not in the scholarly way (well, maybe that too), but learned about life. There were so many hard lessons and it felt good to close that chapter of my life. Sometimes in these eleven years, I've been wistful about that time when I was on the horizon and the sun was rising and my possibilites seemed endless. I really wanted Firoze to visit Clemson with me, but for some reason, we just never did.

Well, finally after our trip to Greenville, it just made sense. We were heading home in the same direction and Clemson is literally 10 minutes from the highway. It just made sense to go. We had the boys in the car and I felt like I wanted my family to see the place where I came from, the place where I became myself.

It's hard for most people to understand because they probably lived it up in college and partied every weekend. But I was different. I had this drive and it literally pushed me to the breaking point. I wanted to be an engineer and be "better than the boys." I wanted to work full time and pay for things myself. I wanted to take risks and push myself, figure skating full time and rowing crew and learning Russian. I pushed and pushed until I was mentally and physically done. There were so many amazing and wonderful moments, but at the same time, it broke me down. It's hard to describe because I loved it and hated it all at the same time. That's why going back had my stomach in knots and my heart was beating fast.

But we went and for a moment, I was 18 again and time seemed strange.



I was in this same spot on my first day on campus. I had so many questions about my life. Now I have the answers to those questions. That's what I was thinking.



As we were driving up to my old dorm, the marching band literally spilled on to the street in front of us. It brought back those warm memories, of orange and purple, of school spirit, of the fun in being young.



Sitting outside my dorm, it was surreal. I lived there for almost seven years. It was exactly the same. The trees were the same and the branches that I looked out on were in the same spot. The only new additions were my husband and kids next to me. It was amazing to be back in that spot and to show Firoze where I lived and where I walked every day. It felt good to walk those paths again.



We walked down to Death Valley and it was so amazing to show Firoze and the boys around campus. He finally got a picture of the images I have described to him for years.



When I told Firoze, "I can't believe it's been 11 years since I have been here." He said how fast time flies and said "in another 12 years, Devon will be ready to start college." I think I got weak in the knees. What if the next time I'm here, Devon is starting college? You just never know. That's what is so amazing about life. It always surprises you.



Maybe Devon or Dean will follow in my footsteps and go to Clemson. I would rock my orange and purple and be so proud. Proud and happy!



And I'll tell them all about the place I came from. The time at Clemson when I learned about life and grew up and became myself.

Passing the Torch

Back when I was a kid, the best memories I had involved two things... either swimming at the pool or celebrating a holiday with lots of family all around. Swimming was just about the most fun we could possibly have as kids. I even got excited when my Mom would drag out the suitcases for our trip and I would unzip them and inhale the beautiful smell of chlorine. Chlorine meant fun. Chlorine meant games of marco polo and my Dad catapulting us into the pool, over and over for hours. We were little fish and we could stay at the pool for 8 hours if they would let us.

And then there were holidays. The days we spent at my Grandma and Grandpa's house at the lake. There was my Grandma, making the huge pot of mashed potatoes in the kitchen. My Grandpa was always putting on a cool record, like Elvis or Dean Martin. And cousins were everywhere! There was always an awesome friend to play "paint the turtle's back" (not approved by PETA), or "let's try on all Grandma's jewelry," or any number of amazingly fun cousin related activities.

Anways, back to the point... We surprised my Dad with a family reunion for his 60th birthday and for the first time in my life, I felt like I was passing the torch. Devon was so excited about being with his cousins and swimming in the pool that I knew he had finally got it! Even though it took a lot of planning, we all wanted to make Dad's birthday extra special this year and it was worth it in every way.

All my Dad really wanted was for us all to be together.





We had meals together and lots of fun moments, but I was busy wrangling Dean and letting our family click with the shutters of 3 cameras. So, I'm missing the photos from almost all the major events of this weekend, but I'm sure Court will post on her blog and Rebecca will post on facebook and they'll share more of what happened.

But, I did capture the happiest memory from the weekend...

Devon and Judah were holding hands all weekend. Holding hands walking to the restaurant. Holding hands walking through the parking lot. Sharing giggles and talking about dinosaurs. Having that feeling of "I'm with my cuz and my cuz is so cool!" That is what Courtney and I dreamed of when we both had tiny little bundles and we thought "one day these kids are going to love each other." And now it has happened and it was so fun to watch.


Judah - it's ok, boys will be boys. ;)


Can you tell who the brave one is?

Even Quinn was part of the pool jumpers and it was so cute to see them all jump together.



But the best part was seeing Devon learn from his cousins that jumping into the pool and being brave is easy and fun and by the end of the vacation, he was jumping with abandon!


Seriously, how handsome is this boy?


YESSSSSS! Brave boy.... finally!


Court - Love you sooo much and your two little cuties too! Can't wait to meet the one on the way!!

So, Happy Birthday to my wonderful Dad and I couldn't say it any better than Courtney. She wrote the most beautiful blog post that made me cry and was the perfect way to sum it up...

A Life Worth Celebrating

The torch has been passed and now Devon will be remembering how much fun he had at the pool with his cousins and years from now, he'll think back on these days as being the happiest memories of his life.

P.S. No one in the world could possibly be happier at this moment than Guillermo... about to take his first bite of the world's biggest burrito!!!


"Man vs. Food! Man vs. Food!" - Seriously, the restaurant started chanting. :)