Since I will soon be a graduate of SUNY Oswego, I figured I would share with you my favorite memory. (Please, feel free to stop reading if you’re not in the mood for my sappy recollection.)
It was my freshman year. It was the first really sunny day after a grey winter- it was cold, there was still snow on the ground but it was beautiful out. As beautiful as a chilly day in Oswego can be. My friends and I decided to go for a drive- I had made a mixed CD for my ex-boyfriend’s cousin, and it was sitting in my computer. Right before we left, I ran to my room to grab it. I was proud of it- it was a killer mix named “Phoebe Caufield.”
So my three friends and I piled into Joey’s silver Saab. I carefully placed the CD in his player and I turned the volume up. We passed around the pipe Paul brought back from France and smoked cherry flavored tobacco and rolled the windows down, despite the snow, despite the cold- all for the sun. We made silly jokes about poop, and farts. We sat in silence and let the music and the steam from our breath fill the air. Finally, we got to Fairhaven State Park and drove down the long road that takes you to the lake- it seemed like it could go on for years. Jon parked the car and we all hopped out and ran to the small lake that a tiny canal from Ontario created. It was frozen and we all stepped out onto it. Joey’s foot broke through the first layer of ice and we all screamed- even though there was nothing to worry about. We scurried off the ice as carefully as we could.
Then we ran to the pavilion. We threw some snowballs. I think I got pushed into a snow bank- thank goodness I had my boots on.
After about a half hour we piled back into the car and started to head back to campus. It was quiet- Phoebe Caulfield still played. I was in the passenger seat, Jon and Paul in the back. Suddenly, Green Eyes by Coldplay stopped and a piano kicked on… followed by the sweet voice of Rob Thomas.
I giggled and grinned. Joey looked at me and smiled. We started to sing along to the late 90s/early 00s hit, Bright Lights by Matchbox 20.
The guitar started and we started to dance a little bit in our seats. I kept smiling. Joey kept singing. Paul pouted in the back seat. And then the bridge started…
“LET THAT CITY TAKE YOU IN,” Jon screamed from the backseat. And all together, at the top of our lungs with and with every fiber of our body was shouted:
“FOR GOD’S SAKE TURN AROUND!” and kept going. The three of us, the opposite of embarrassed, loving every moment of this stupid, silly, song.
The tune faded out and we all laughed, even Paul who had finally stopped pouting.
The mix finished out as we pulled back into a parking lot on campus. I don’t really remember what happened next, but I can guess we went back to someone’s room and continued to make silly jokes, talk about poop and get drunk the way freshmen do.
It was during that trip to nowhere that I realized I finally fit. I had finally found my “peeps” (if you will). I had graduated high school with a couple close friends- but I never really had like, a group. More than one person who loved the same dumb stuff as me, but could still talk about dreams and life and clouds. I had finally clicked with other people. I had found my friends.
If college has taught me one thing, it’s that we make our own family when separated from our blood relatives by hundreds of miles and a couple bridges. And it was during that car ride that I felt the comfort that only comes with time. I wasn’t awkward when we were quiet. It wasn’t strange when one of us closed our eyes for a moment.
We were home.