perspective and they can't take that away from me
The meaning of the song “they can’t take that away from me” was stranger to me until I graduated from college, after which I spent seasons and seasons of just going to Bogazici campus and admiring whatever guises nature took. It was one particular moonlit night that I was very frustrated with life, sitting on the garden wall at the Kennedy Lodge, that I finally figured out what the song was getting at. Nothing, and no one could take away the memories of the time I spent there. Even if I’m miles away one day, they were engraved in my memory like stone.
These days I go into Ucaksavar Sitesi when I run on weekdays and it reminds me of our first days in Superdorm. I remember how going to classes and coming back was such a big deal; when everything was a big deal. It was the end of fall, beginning of winter, like now, and the leaves and the trees looked exactly the same. I remember the refreshing smell of Suzanne’s shampoo right after she took a shower and went down to the computer lab to do e-mail check (never homework). I remember her flashcards and how she would take everything so seriously. I don’t know why it matters so much after all these years but it does. That’s the kind of thing they can’t take away from me.
And it seems like nothing strikes me quite as strong now. But the revenge of time is a dish best served cold. I’ve yet to see what floats and what sinks in reminiscence. Suz would say, in perspective. As much as I wonder what shape these days will take in perspective, the freshman days will still be the ones that shine the most. How do I know? Because I think ingénue has better memory.
These days I go into Ucaksavar Sitesi when I run on weekdays and it reminds me of our first days in Superdorm. I remember how going to classes and coming back was such a big deal; when everything was a big deal. It was the end of fall, beginning of winter, like now, and the leaves and the trees looked exactly the same. I remember the refreshing smell of Suzanne’s shampoo right after she took a shower and went down to the computer lab to do e-mail check (never homework). I remember her flashcards and how she would take everything so seriously. I don’t know why it matters so much after all these years but it does. That’s the kind of thing they can’t take away from me.
And it seems like nothing strikes me quite as strong now. But the revenge of time is a dish best served cold. I’ve yet to see what floats and what sinks in reminiscence. Suz would say, in perspective. As much as I wonder what shape these days will take in perspective, the freshman days will still be the ones that shine the most. How do I know? Because I think ingénue has better memory.
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