Thursday, July 30, 2009

Reminiscing!

OK...the house is quiet. Ainsley is sleeping, Andrew is in Port Aransas with his grandparents, and Josh is at work. I am sitting at the computer updating my playlist, adding songs I hear on the radio and then try desperately to remember. (I am not too hip when it comes to current music...). In trying to think of more songs to add, I remembered one I heard called "We Bleed Maroon". I type it in, the website finds it, I listen to it, and then find myself crying! No, I am not pregnant, just overwhelmed with very fond memories of times past. Listening to the words made me remember why I am so proud to be an Aggie!

Now, yes, there are people who came to Texas A&M, earned a degree, and then moved on...never really experiencing what I consider Aggieland. My definition of Aggieland is Yell Practice at midnight on a Friday night, falling off bleachers wiggled loose by the other thousands of Aggies who stood there the Friday nights before. It is Kyle field on Saturday, sweating with 80,000 other devouts. It is the Dixie Chicken, playing 42 with dominoes traded at the bar for your drivers license. It is taking your hat off when you walk in the MSC (no matter how bad your hair looks), memorializing all the Aggies before and after you who will give there life defending our great nation. It is to Aggies don't boo, we horse laugh...booing is tacky. It is the Aggie Code of Honor, we do not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do...and we mean it! It is smiling and saying "howdy" on your way to class as you pass by others on their way. It is the Aggie ring, a symbol of our pride and means of finding a common bond with strangers wearing theirs far from the boundaries of campus. It is knowing the words to, singing, and then teaching your children the words to our War Hymn. It is a whoop, what we say when we hear some "good bull"! It is Reveille, who else gets out of class when their mascot barks? It is Silver Taps, where campus is darken and Taps is played from the roof of the Academic building for any enrolled Aggie who has passed that month. It is Muster, a roll call for all Aggies who have died that year. It is maroon and white. It is all the amazing fellow Aggies you meet and get to call friend for many, many years after leaving. It is getting engaged under the Century Tree, to another who also shares this Aggie love. It is bonfire, and Gig'em, and the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, and the 12th Man, and fish camp, and yell leaders! The list goes on and on, but I will not bore you with more...

I know we, Josh and I, are pretty devout. We certainly get some looks when people hear our children's initials are AGS. As one good ole' Ag told us, "Who says Old Army is dead?" Anyway, to all you non-Aggies out there, I can only hope that your 4 (or maybe more) years at college come with as fond of memories as mine. I can only hope that songs written can bring tears of joyous memories as you remember your days on campus. So, joke all you want...make fun of us all you want, but I wouldn't have traded it for the world.

Sorry for the cheesy gushing, but that is what was on my heart. I know there are a lot of other things I could have blogged on...and those are coming...I just got caught up in the moment. Now, indulge me in one more thing. Pause the song and enjoy "Welcome to Aggieland"! Just another way of sharing our Aggieland story.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, your Father is blubbering and tears are running down my cheeks and it's only 6:30am. That had to be one of your best blogs ever!! Keep up the good work.

All our love- Mom and Dad Rohr

Michelle said...

Wow--great tribute and I love the song! I'd never heard it before. Good times!

Anonymous said...

i love this. its exactly why i am where i am. and it is that love why i think god put you and me in college station at texas a&m is because we have a heart for loving strongly. and were some people would consider this love "cultish", we definitely know much better... we just have big hearts. and it is not surface deep... this love goes deep.. runs through our viens. we're not snobby about it, and we're not wild with newly-found school spirit. it is a love that connects us with generations. the generations that have seen and assisted in war and national crisis for over a century. The "now" what makes us who we are, we are what we are representing from history to turn into what we will represent in the future - and thats where education takes us... it is the root of why we are educated and why it is so important - it molds us and forms us to shape the future for generations to come and remember us.

Anonymous said...

that previous comment came from me. love you sam! miss you.
-chace