Homesick

I'm feeling a bit homesick again these days. I miss Vermillion, I miss my farmhouse, I miss my people, I miss living in a small town farming community, I even miss my classes and some of my professors. I felt like I really had a place for myself there. I think I've come to realize that my time there is over; I still love to visit, but I would be far too restless living there anymore.

I heard today that my Sociology professor, Sharon Allen, died of brain cancer earlier this month, on Sept. 8. I wasn't as close to her as I was to some of my other professors, but I always liked her; she was such a sweet lady. I only had one class with her, but I saw her all the time in East Hall, and she always smiled so nicely. I also read that Werner Kitzler, my favorite grumpy old German professor, retired this year. I suppose in a few more years, very few of the people I knew there will be left...students graduate and move away, professors (most of mine were old!) retire. Moving from Vermillion to Sioux Falls affected me more than moving from my parents house to college did...I was more than ready to get out of my parent's house and fly, but I wanted more time in that little town by the river.

I'll find another home again someday, I hope, but I won't ever forget the first one that I had to carve out for myself.