Our ultimate team played at St. Mary's in southern Maryland this past weekend. My roommate Mike and I decided to stay on campus and fly by the seat of our pants. As we sat in an archway with our bags for the week, a few girls came up to us and offered us a place to stay. We decided to go for it.
I felt like I was dropped into a moment at Messiah College again. Our new friends treated us like old friends. We watched Hairspray and danced the salsa, I had my first shot of rum, went to a bar and danced with us, listened to Total Eclipse of the Heart in spanish with us, came to our ultimate games. People came in and out of their apartment whenever. They left it unlocked. They knew most everyone we walked past all weekend. One of them even helped out our girls' team, driving them around in the very earily a.m.
In short, there was community.
That word, community. That fucking word. At Messiah it was beaten into us. But now, at a place where there is little community, my weekend at St. Mary's made me realize, at long last, what I had been missing.
I miss walking into Ross's room, or Mohar and Phil's room, and bullshitting for a few hours. Or walking over to Dean and Devin's and discussing Amy Winehouse, or Ryan and Dan's room for some Madden (back when Michael Vick wasn't in prison yet). And I miss my new friends, and how sweet they were to us, complete strangers.
Most of all, I miss community.
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