The Solstice and the Goddesses

Remembering the dinners of the past

This will be fairly short, I think, but sweet nonetheless. It’s the Winter Solstice and in another time and place, I would be sitting around my dining room table with my dearest friends celebrating the handing in of our grades for the semester. I remember the first couple of years at Roger Williams University having to get in the car to drive to the campus gatehouse to hand in the sealed and signed manilla envelope, sometimes in the rain, sleet and snow. A few short years later we were able to hand in grades online! Such was the rapid technological changes that happened in the 16 years of my career at RWU.

As I look back, the most important changes were the lasting friendships that grew into the core group of “goddesses” that would meet, often at my house but sometimes at someone else’s, at the solstices and equinoxes to celebrate the sisterhood of teaching, chairing, advising, writing and, most especially, reading. It was the stock question of the evening—“What are you reading?” As the question moved around the table, we’d get out our list making equipment (paper notebook and pencil, smartphone, etc.) and make note of things we should/could add to the growing pile on our night tables to indulge in over the winter, spring or summer breaks.

I remember one of these dinners in particular. Robbie, my husband, arrived home from one of his Celtic Christmas concerts and came into the dining room to greet us. Having done his salute to what he fondly referred to as “the coven”, he retreated to the sitting room and his chair to decompress from his labors. Later, when my friends had all gone home he asked, “You must have had a good time. What were you all laughing about?” Goodness knows… because that just seemed to be what we did all evening long.

These are the women who taught me how to be a good teacher and advisor, how to navigate the academy and how to be a good scholar. I am forever in their debt. With the exception of my children, these are the people I miss the most now that I’ve moved 3,000 miles away—I feel it most keenly at this time of the year.

So here’s to the Goddesses of RWU… some, like me, retired from teaching but not from life, and others still carrying the torch of sharing knowledge and wisdom with the next generation: June, Kate (whose birthday I MISSED this year… I’m so sorry, but you get extra hugs and kisses), Paola, Meg, Kathy, Renée, Susan, Anjali, Anne, and France.

Sadly, I can't find my own photos of everyone... (Anne, I had to take yours from the RWU website!)

A very blessed Winter Solstice to you all. I hope the coming of the light will bring the warmth of friends and family closer to you. Know that I hear your voices and feel your strength, even in the darkest days of winter.