Reflections for 1/21/11

"When a man leaves home, he leaves behind some scrap of his heart. Is it not so, Godric...It's the same with a place a man is going to. Only then he sends a scrap of his heart ahead."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 19)

As I thought about this quote and what I would reflect about it a song came into my head: "There are places I'll remember All my life, though some have changed Some forever, not for better Some have gone and some remain All this places have their moments With lovers and friends I still can recall Some are dead and some are living In my life, I've loved them all."(Lennon and McCartney)

In my life I've lived in 8 different places. I don't have any memories of the first place, an apartment in Edison, NJ, though I've seen the pictures.  There was a 4-5 year period in Olathe Kansas. I have some memories of that place, mostly because we went back a few times to visit, friends that my parents had made.  A very long stretch was in Metuchen, and I certainly left a scrap of my heart there. And yet when I go back, which granted isn't often, I don't feel the same nostalgia towards it.  There are good and bad memories there, and some of the things that I enjoy in life now got their start during that time in my life.  I doubt that outside of myself I left much of a mark on that town. 

There was the four years in Grinnell Iowa, a much bigger scrap of my heart I left there.  I loved those four years, and I miss that campus community greatly.  And even though I might not recognize the place now, a lot of new buildings from what I gather, I do hope to go back there perhaps even this summer just to drive through and see what it has become.  Again I don't know that outside of myself Grinnell College would hold Ed Zelley up as one it's super alums.  Next stop was one year in Newburgh NY, not much of a scrap of my heart was left there, but a big hole in my heart was filled there.

Three years in Cambridge Mass, and again I left a scrap of my heart on that campus. I loved my time there, perhaps not as much as Grinnell, but it was still important. I don't know if I left much of an impression on the place, there are more important people that have walked that campus than I.

The next to the last scrap was Haddonfield NJ.  There are scraps of my heart there for sure, and I do believe I left some noticeable marks on that place. They may eventually fade, but I'm still warmly welcomed and remembered when I venture back.

Now my heart is here in Wenonah.  I think I am leaving little pieces of my heart here each day. I haven't departed yet and I have no idea when that will happen.  Hopefully I will remember my time here fondly, I'm sure I will. I hope that when I'm gone, what I left will be noticed in a positive way.

Where have you left scraps of your heart?  Was leaving them behind hard and painful, or just a natural part of walking your earthly pilgrimage?

Blessings,
Ed