Dear Russ,

Thank you.

After living for several days in the empty shell that was once your domicile, your previous occupancy was made known to me. The wind, that sneakiest yet most immutable force, slid its tendrils through my open window and underneath the weathered dorm furniture. It emerged clutching your laminated 5″x7″ customized CCG card between its ethereal fingertips and told me your name.

Who must you have been, Russ, to deserve a card in your honor? This is not a typical perk of being an R.A. No, sir. You were special.

Did you make leather mugs at the Renaissance Festival? When you heard a pop song on the radio, did you always sing the lyrics to the Weird Al version? Were you destined for a field that would fully utilize your unique prowess at sitting in an office chair and looking at a screen for days on end?

Russ, you sweet load, if only we could pan over and see the rest of this room as it was when you lived here. What would we see? A DVD rack full of movies starring Jack Black? Finely crafted action figures you purchased at Suncoast when you were in high school? A Buddy Christ figurine? I would wager that we would not see deodorant, but that’s my own whimsical notion.

As I sit in this room, surrounded by scuffed, punctured, bare walls and only enough supplies for my three-week stay, I can only imagine the sheer volume of life lived here! Not just by you, but those who came before. I do not exist in this world, but between worlds. How transitory this place is, but oh, how significant the time spent here is! Someone* probably lost their virginity in this room, got drunk and vomited for the first time in this room, leveled up their Paladin in this room.**

My time here is but the blink of an eye. I respect this room, and when I depart, I vow to leave your laminated card in the drawer, where it may help future inhabitants of this room understand their own journeys a little bit more. When they look at this picture of you, Russ, they just may see themselves and all they could be.

It just seems like the right thing to do.

Thank you, Russ.

Excelsior!

Clarence Wethern

* Probably not you.
** Probably you.