thanksgiving

Sorry for my silence. (Isn't that a phrase I utter often?!) I've been in four US states in the last week. The trip was designed as a glorious combination of business and pleasure, but I have to admit that when you are in good company and walking paths that feel familiar, everything is pleasing. I've really missed the good ol' US of A.

Even more than that, I have really missed the Pioneer Valley. Claiming that your college career was 'the best time of your life' is cliche, but in my case, the cliches are all true. My time at Mount Holyoke was the most joyful, empowering, and exciting period I have known. That statement is all the more powerful because those years also included the kidnapping and murder of my aunt, the unexpected death of my beloved grandmother, and a number of other dark moments. Still, it was in the Valley that I found my voice and in the Valley that I found friends and mentors who continue to be my greatest inspiration. This place is magical.

For the incredible yearning I feel as I walk around Amherst and South Hadley, there is an equal or greater sense of thanksgiving. I am thankful for all this place has given me and for all that it is. I am thankful for Roberto Marquez, his challenging teaching, and the quality of his mentoring. I am thankful for the people I have met who taught me new and better ways to see the world and myself in it: Liz, Liam, Hilary, Zachary, Jayna, Julia, Bekka and Alison, the Wilder Crew, and Five College friends, to name only a few. I am thankful for an environment so rich in so many ways.

I have been told recently that I speak with confidence and that I possess a clear sense of direction. I don't know if that is true, but if it is, it is through no merit of my own. I owe everything-- in the positive sense-- to my time here.