notre dame, in

The next sentimental stop was...well...golden! Returning to South Bend for the first time since Jonathan and I met there (almost 7 years ago) was pretty surreal. I showed Avery & Christian where I used to live at Saint Mary's, prompting conversations like this:

Avery: "Mama! You lived in a castle!? Like Cinderella?"
Me: "Yes, pretty much just like Cinderella. Only there wasn't any air conditioning, and I shared a bathroom with 20 other girls, and we stayed up late watching scary movies and drinking lots of beverages."
Avery: "Oh, that sounds SO fun! Dad- I when I get grown up I want to live in a castle like Rapunzel too, and have popcorn parties with my sippy cup of juice!"

While on campus, it was the strangest feeling of time lived and spent. When I was living in this spot, on this lawn, at a much younger age, I experienced this space so very differently than how I did now. The person that I was in this place last was young. I hadn't met the man I was to marry yet. I didn't have any kids, or even a thought of what those kids would be like, or how my life would be different. It was almost a time-warp sort of feeling; strange, nastalgic, grateful, and memorable.

I felt so lucky to have had the opportunity to go to such an unbelievable school, at a time when I didn't even realize it. Only years after leaving have I slowly realized in many different fashions just how much I gained from my experience there; unbelievable friendships, great business and social connections & introductions, a continuing foundation for faith, and a lifetime of pride in both the SMC and ND school traditions. It's a great world-wide family to be apart of. I'm also happy to have found someone in a spouse that gets what it means to bleed blue and gold. Jonathan finished his MBA at ND in '07 just before we moved to Chicago.

This trip was also made that much sweeter as we met up with great friends, the Boro family, in the Bend. With a total of 5 kids under the age of four, we toured the campuses, went tailgating, and for the first time, started our very own family tradition under the golden dome. Watching Avery and Christian run around the green in front of Touchdown Jesus...seeing Avery kneel and fold her hands and say a prayer down at the Grotto...and watching Christian learn to do the Fighting Irish arm pumps from the real leprechaun himself...Priceless.

Click HERE for all of the pics. Password: Finch