Students hope for a date to the homecoming dance. Grandparents want to see the dorm room they stayed in as freshmen. And beyond the Norman Rockwell rituals, there is a visceral bond that links the homecoming visitors, a bond that is hokey and sappy and, most of all, very real. There are, of course, those who profess to be too cosmopolitan to get caught up in these rituals, claiming they were dragged back kicking and screaming by a demanding and over-sentimental spouse. But even these former students can be seen sneaking off to check out some corner of the campus that holds personal romantic memories or carries special historic significance in their journey to adulthood.
Former lovers steal time to catch up on the progress of their now-separate lives.
Old teammates tell lies to each other about how much better they were than the athletes of today. And almost everyone laughingly recalls how dumb they were when they were young. They remember how little they appreciated the little things about life on this campus, little things they now hold as treasured memories of their youth. Beyond the emotion-laden memories of places and events are the friendships that formed in this place, and endured. Those friendships are, for most, a thread through time, a thread that provides a sense of life's continuity and an agreed-upon, almost timeless, place to call home.