Yesterday we went to breakfast after mass with Dom’s sister and her family. It was about the time we’ve been giving Bella some cereal and fruit and she was getting a bit antsy so I gave her a piece of my toast to gum. I was chatting with my brother in law for a while and then looked down to check on Bella. She was sound asleep with the soggy crust clenched in one fist near her mouth. Very cute.
I just watched this finally and had tears in my eyes when it finished. I have an inordinate capacity for regret and longing for the past – I found myself regretting every moment I spent at UD not taking advantage of where i was. Every time i procrastinated a paper a bit, or slept in and was late for class. Every moment i didn’t spent engrossed in discourse with my peers. I long so deeply to return and do it all again even better this time.
I cherish every moment spent at UD. I should keep my mind focused on the long talks with professors, quiet moments in the chapel, Phil of Being outside in the grass, Rome at sunset, late nights in Old Mill, cramming 21 hours in one semester so I could take Russian Novel and get all my chemistry in too, visiting with Mel as she lay next to her computer trying to finish her annotations…good things.
I’m going to show this to Marc tonight too – He only spent a year and a half at UD, but at least he had the honor of studying with Dr Paynter, eavesdropping on Fr. James’ classes, and walking the stations in the chapel. I long to give him a Rome semester, but maybe we can give that to our kids one day…as long as UD stays UD. and we all pray it does.
Betsy,
I know exactly what you mean. If I could go back and do it all again… I wouldn’t have dropped Russian novel. I’d have spent more time in my professors’ offices talking to them. I’d have gone to more plays, more activities, more dinner and discourses, more everything.
Youth is wasted on the young, as they say.
I felt it especially when my sister was in Rome and had a cell phone and kept calling me from all these cool places. I wish I’d gone into the city more, eaten at more restaurants, talked to more people, taken more pictures of people and less of things I could have bought postcards of.
It makes me realize how important it is to do what you are doing, to live in the moment and to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves. One day I might be looking back on this time when Bella is a baby and Dom and I are newly married and wish I’d paid more attention, spent more time appreciating this time of my life.
I definitely want Bella to be able to attend UD. Which needs our prayers right now as it’s going through a hard transition time. I pray that UD stays what it is; that as it grows, it maintains its essential character.
Good to hear from you and wander down a bit of memory lane. Ah those annotations… good times!