Starting Again

Class started again today.  And it's okay.  I don't feel like there is a cloud over the campus or some huge weight on all of our shoulders.  Maybe it's just me, but I am glad to be back.  It is going to take a little getting used to.  Looking from the Walker Rd. entrance, you can see straight through to the SUB building.  That is weird.  The campus looks tiny now.  

I wish Jen and I could move into our apartment, but unfortunately we have to wait until next Wednesday.  I'm staying with two of my old roommates and another friend in their new apartment until then.  I was going to stay at my aunt's, but I kind of prefer walking ten minutes or driving three minutes to driving 15 to 20 minutes from Medina.  And it's fun to stay with them.  

It's interesting how each person has handled the whole situation.  Some who didn't lose a whole lot are traumatized just by the experience.  Some of us who lost a lot of our possessions are taking it pretty well, as far as I can tell.  Every person is different.  I do think that we all feel as though we have more of a camaraderie with the entire student body.  Disasters like this really do bring people together.  My main prayer will be that we will be on the lookout for those students that aren't taking it well, who might try to isolate themselves and fall into depression because they feel separated.  We are in no way alone in all of this, primarily because God has been with each of us the whole time.  Nor are we lacking for people who truly care about us, whether it be at school, at work, or at home.  

I saw Suzanne, the RA who basically saved my life, last night at the worship service.  We just hugged each other for a good while (I cried, obviously), then I thanked her for saving my life.  I know it sounds melodramatic, but it was the truth.  She said, "Oh, God saved us all."  To me she was just an instrument of God that night; I'm sure I'm not the only one she told to get to safety.  

I've decided this starting over again thing isn't half bad.  I get a ton of new stuff!  Haha.  Really, though, I think about the keepsakes that I had in my room, the things that meant something to me, and wonder what I really would have done with them.  I know I would have kept them, for sure, but how long would it be before they were up in an attic in my (future) house to be forgotten for years and years?  I am aware that those things are often found during cleaning excursions and brought out for reminiscent purposes; it's just that...  now I have a bigger story to tell.