A while ago, I was in the Biography section of the library when I came across a biography of Mary Wollestonecraft that had been written by an old professor of mine, Ralph Wardell. Dr. Wardell taught Shakespeare and would bring out his hand-built replica of the Globe Theatre as it was in Shakespeare's time--very much like the one depicted in Shakespeare In Love--or the Grand Guignol! It's been moved from its origina location since.

It got me thinking about my 'school days,' and the professors I had loved. I knew most of them were buried but I wondered about some of them. So I accessed the site for the university and found one emiritus. I'd taken every class he'd offered in both under-grad and graduate school--and he was alive! It took me a long time, but I finally decided to e-mail him through the Chair of the English Dept.

He remembered me, favorably--after 30+ years! I was both stunned and gratified and hope to be able to continue this connection to my past which I've never had.

I say I never had a 'connection' because every move in my Army Brat's life has been a new chapter. The pages on the previous chapters close.

This doesn't ask a question, does it? It's just another one of my oftentimes rambling posts.

So, I'll ask some questions. Does anyone have fond memories of university? Does anyone (like me) still have anxiety dreams about university--missing an entire semester or quarter of classes--a vital final--being lost on campus?

If you've never been to university, did you have favorite teachers and why were they favorite?

What was your school experience like?

I had a recurring dream that it was finals week and I had just discovered that I had signed up for a class, but totally forgot about it for the entire semester. My rational mind knew that if I had failed to go to the class at all I would have been automatically dropped, but my unconscious mind was giving me the cold sweats over it. It was some time after graduating that they finally stopped.

Doesn't seem like it. You went back to an old character from a previous chapter and he was still there.

True, and most happily so, otherwise I wouldn't be here at FM. But it doesn't happen often.

Some people respond to constant moving the way I did--close that chapter and move on. Some hold on and maintain years-long correspondence with people they'll most probably never see again. In the long run, I prefer my way, especially now that I have e-mail. It makes 'going home again' much simpler.

BB, I still have those anxiety dreams--and that's what they are.

I heard from my old prof. I had asked about another teacher--the medievalist. Some 20 years ago, Dr. Lane was sitting at home, eating dinner, when he had a heart attack. He died a few hours later in the hospital. He wasn't horribly old, but the heart condition was apparently congenital and he could have gone at any time.

That got me thinking about Dr. Lane--I haven't thought about him for years--and I'm happy to say that what I remembered made me very quietly happy. That's such a nice way to remember someone, isn't it?