Kentucky Places: Old Morrison
Old Morrison is the centerpiece of Transylvania's campus. Over its storied past it has been a Civil War hospital, a crypt, been consumed by fire TWICE, and housed administrators for the college.
It is one of my favorite places in Kentucky but not because of its amazing history. I love it because it has served as the backdrop for so much of mine.
Turning into its driveway on my first campus visit, my friend and I were involved in a car wreck because we confused North Broadway for a two way street...it is not.
Running around its front on Bid Day, I joined my sorority and gained friends I will have for life.
Two years later, I ran down its steps to rejoin that sorority after spending a long (long) couple weeks as a Rho Chi.
Laying on its lawn for class after class over four years, I learned that nature really is the best classroom...and distractor.
Sitting in its shadow on graduation day, I ended the best four years of my life and faced a life full of possibility.
In the spring of 2001, I sat on its portico and took this picture. I sat there in tears and looked at those impossibly beautiful trees. My college boyfriend had just told me he had been accepted to law school at Duke. He was moving away and it seemed like the end of my world. I was trying to decide if I really wanted to stick with it and be in a long distance relationship for two years. I came to Old Morrison to get some peace and hopefully some wisdom.
Ultimately, I decided to stick it out and I'm glad I did. That college boyfriend is now my husband of eight years and the father of my two children. I can't say Old Morrison made that decision for me but its presence in the background - solid and strong - made it a little bit easier.