A Trip Down Memory Lane (Rt. 27)

27 North goes straight into Oxford. I still vividly remember riding with my parents on that road in a packed mini van, ready to move in to Miami University as a freshman in college. I've driven that road a million times since then. Leading YL at Fairfield throughout college provided hundreds of opportunities to take in the scenes of beautiful 27. I had some of my best thinking times during drives to and from Oxford.

Last week I drove it again, as I headed up to O-town to meet with some girls who asked me to lead a bible study with them. As I made my way through the rural parts of smalltown Millville, the sun was setting over the farm land and I couldn't help but become a little nostalgic. I let my mind drift into a sea of memories.

I entered Oxford and turned left onto Chestnut Avenue. I had to laugh when I saw a girl jogging immediately upon my entrance. And when I saw a second girl jogging a block later, it confirmed that not much had changed. I drove past many familiar houses and buildings, as well as some new construction. After a few more blocks, I turned right onto S. College Avenue, my old stomping grounds. The girls I was going to hang out with live across the street from the house I lived in my junior and senior year...the beloved 807 S. College Ave...The Roost as we called it (because everyone in Oxford names their houses). And that brought back another slew of memories.


It's crazy to think about how much time has passed since I lived there. Other people have come and gone in that house and sadly it's no longer called The Roost. I almost wanted to knock on the door and ask to see it, but I prefer to remember it as was. I think boys lived there after us, so I'm sure it's not as cute anymore.

I laughed when I remembered that we had one computer hooked up to the internet, which the four of us shared. We even had a landline with an answering machine and we took messages for each other because we didn't have cell phones. I'm sure every house in Oxford now has wireless internet and I assume very few have a house phone. Time flies and things change. But one thing was the same.....good old Don, the old man who lived next door with two other old men and who would wake us up with his hacking cough as he smoked out on the porch at random hours of the night...he was sitting on his porch as I walked out to my car at the end of the night. I wonder what Don thinks about as he sits on his porch day after day, watching Oxford change....people coming and going, living in the bubble that Oxford can so easily be. I have to admit, I sometimes miss that bubble. Riding my bike everywhere, friends within walking distance and time to hang out with them, local coffee shops and bakeries, the tree lined streets in the fall...it's funny how we only remember the good things, isn't it?

As I drove out of Oxford that night, down 27 back to Fairfield, I felt like I was driving back into the real world where time keeps ticking and life keeps changing. I was excited to get home to my husband and son....excited for life where I am now.