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I said goodbye to an old friend last night. It was an oddly emotional sort of affair...I didn't say much, and neither did it. Of course, buildings aren't known to say a whole lot.
In the midst of all the recent high school graduates preparing to leave to start their new lives at college, I had to say bye to a place that I feel like I grew up in. My church here at home's Christian Life Center (formerly known as The Rec Center) is going to be torn down sometime soon. I'm not really sure when, but I'd imagine there's a good chance it'll be before I come home from school for the first time. They've built a new Family Recreation Center across the street. It's a great looking building, and I'm sure it was needed. It's just never going to have the same kind of place in my heart that the CLC had. The parking deck that will replace it won't be the same place that I've spent so much of my life at.
I know this whole thing sounds really dumb, but you have to understand all that's gone on there, and this is just in MY life. I remember being dropped off there for Day Camp all through elementary school, meeting there for countless church retreats and trips, being there as a counselor for Day Camps and other trips, hanging out there after school, playing countless games of basketball, both organized and pick-up, and perhaps the most recent and fondest memories, my youth group's Wednesday night services. There's so many places in that building that have memories attatched to them...the gym where I pretty much learned how to play basketball and gave myself blisters roller skating, the snack room where at one time they had a vending machine that gave you pizza, the lobby and hallways where I've had millions of conversations with tons of different people, the fireside room where we used to have Good Stuf back when it first started and we only had like 15 people many weeks, the game room where I learned how to play pool and ping pong, and, of course, what we now call the Good Stuf room where I experienced many, many, many worship times and Bible studies. I could go on, and the more I think about it the more things I keep remembering.
I walked around the inside of the building, thinking about all that's gone on there. Finally, I went into the gym alone and made my last three pointer, my last free throw, and my last layup on those goals that I've made so many on before. It was a somber moment.
Of course, the memories won't be gone, just the physical building. It's just going to be weird. It was a wonderful building, but I guess it's served it's purpose. Thanks, CLC...you'll be missed but never forgotten.