I’m at the anniversary celebration of a chapter at which I spent six years as an alumnae advisor. I was looking at old scrapbooks when I heard the voice of someone I hadn’t seen since we left town. Greetings were quickly made. As we tried to catch each other up on our families and the women with whom we worked during those years, a name came up. “Haven’t heard from her, but I still use her shrimp dip recipe,” said my friend.
I chuckled because don’t we all have a recipe or two that we use on a regular basis from someone we haven’t seen or talked to in eons? And don’t we think of them whenever we make it? If I was home and had access to my collection of sorority cookbooks, I write about those recipes. That will have to be a post for another day.
During this trip I also had a wonderful tour of a building which has intrigued me for 30 years. That post will have to wait until I get home, too, but I will give the hint that it is the headquarters of a men’s fraternity with a goodly number of Presidents among its membership.
It’s hard to convey the emotions one feels when revisiting important places in their life. Decades have gone by. Sadly I learn that one woman, a chapter officer when I was an advisor, is no longer with us and that the new piano is a gift in her memory from the women who were in her pledge class.
Celebrations are for celebrating. And I hope that today’s celebration will bring joy to those who have come back to visit a place from their past. I know it has for me.
(c) Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All Rights Reserved.
