Ciao from Gordon

I close my eyes and I'm walking down Corso Cavour. 

I close my eyes in chapel with other Gordon students, ending chapel with the doxology and suddenly I'm back in the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome - in the deepest corner of the tombs, singing the words with our group. Karen's there, Prof Doll too. The small nun holding the keys to this secret cave is holding a lantern, closing her eyes too as we sing praise God from whom all blessings flow. 

I open my eyes and I'm back in chapel. I look around to the row in front of me and see Becky and Laura, I move quickly toward them as we're dismissed and students pour out of the chapel. I ask them, "Do you remember? Do you remember that time in the catacombs?" They respond, nodding together: "Yes, yes, yes, we remember. We remember that."

I close my eyes on the field hockey bus to an away game. Headphones in, listening to the playlist that Prof Doll made us for Disegno - my favorite playlist to listen to on the train. I'd close my eyes, lean my head against the window and blink open to watch the Italian countryside, sheep, houses, hill towns. But I open my eyes and see highways, cars three times the size of Italian Fiats.

At home in my on-campus apartment, Jenna runs in the door and tells me to come quick! We go to Becky and Laura's apartment, sit close together on her bed, and listen to a recording of the last chapter meeting. Linking arms, listening. My eyes close and I'm in the monastery sala, ready for lunch but wanting to listen to Prof Doll's words.

How can my home in Orvieto be so far away from here, yet I close my eyes and it's all I can think about? Even though I'm here at Gordon, I find that it's with me always. Missing this place & these people!