Strange Familiarity

I recently returned to my old college stomping grounds. I lived in Springfield, MO for nearly 11 years during college and my first few years as a full-time workforce member. This is the place I took my first steps into adulthood, gained complete independence in my life, fell in love, got married, divorced, and found my legs in the world.

I hadn’t traveled to Springfield since November 2019 when we buried my grandma Lillian. The pandemic really limited my travel during 2020 and 2021. Most of my friends have either left Springfield or drifted away over time. My grandma’s death removed any reason I had to regularly visit Springfield.

I was there for a wedding and a funeral. My nephew married his wife on Thursday night and we interred my uncle Michael’s ashes Friday morning. The space around these events allowed me to visit some of my favorite places in town: lunch at Tea Bar and Bites, some reflective time and a peanut butter puddle at the Mudhouse, and a walk in the Roundtree neighborhood.

I had to think about how to get around town, something I wasn’t accustomed to. Navigating the Springfield street system grid pattern had come second nature to me before. Now I had to consider my path through town. I had to consider that Sunset runs east and west and would take me to National to go north to the Missouri State campus. I discovered a few streets were renamed, causing me to turn around and backtrack. All these places, once home to me, felt both there and not there. I was a traveler out of time. The physical spaces were familiar but time had changed them and me into something not quite familiar together.

The Mudhouse on South Avenue. I love to come here for tea, lunch, and just to hang out in this unique place. They have the only coffee drink I will consume – the Peanut Butter Puddle.

Tea Bar and Bites on Pickwick – This wonderful little restaurant feeds not only my stomach, but also my soul.

The chicken curry on greens was exactly as I remembered it, but Tea Bar and Bites wasn’t the same. The pandemic had provided time for fresh paint and some updates to the space. Numerous new buildings have been constructed on the MSU campus since I graduated in 2005. Many of the green spaces I remember are now welcome centers and sports fields. It’s incredible how much change happens to a place over time when you aren’t paying attention.

Change seems smaller when you watch it happen gradually.

I did the math and realized it was nearly 20 years since I walked to pomp and circumstance for my master’s. The students attending the freshman registration event, SOAR, that summer weren’t born when I became an alum.

The march of time is steady, but it sneaks up on a person. Until one day, you look around and realize a place you once knew now has a strange familiarity.