I left the hotel early, drove around campus which looked more familiar to me today. Campus town is definitely much nicer. I walked West Nevada where our family home still stands, surrounded by run down rooming houses. The house still looks the same though the front yard is severely overgrown and in need of tlc. I drove past the house my family moved to after I left home. It also looks the same. How different from the demo and rebuild of Silicon Valley. CU is quite a livable community, which I appreciate now more than before. Age makes you realize that there is something to be said about the value of safety and simplicity in small towns.
I joined my class for a tour of the school. We were all struck by the metal detectors at each entrance and the long tables for searching backpacks- glad to see such measures but sad we have come to this, grateful we did not have these issues in our youth but troubled that it is such a part of today’s youth. Walking through the halls, certain memories come back but they are in bits and pieces.
My next stop on memory lane was Lake Iroquois, where my parents had bought lots, intending for my brother and I to each bring our families. We spent several summers at our house there, in a prefab house they had put up. Unfortunately for my parents, neither of us stayed in town. The lake development is in Loda, a small town in the middle of farm fields, 45 min from CU. Surprisingly how the lake is fully built up considering its location. I had a hard time finding our house among all the winding streets. My parents would be amazed to see it now.
