The final goodbye, “Honoring Saint Rose Day”
On Saturday hundreds of people came together for "Honoring Saint Rose Day." It was created to give alumni of the college the chance to remember their time on campus, process their loss and reflect on the school's impact.
CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- On Saturday, hundreds of people came together for "Honoring Saint Rose Day." It was created to give alumni of the college the chance to remember their time on campus, process their loss and reflect on the school's impact one last time.
“Today is bittersweet,” said Marcia White, College of Saint Rose President.
“Today is honoring Saint Rose day. It’s a time for all of us alumni to come together and reminisce, one last time,” said Theresa Belfance, Coordinator Student Engagement and Campus Activities.
Students past and present returning to campus for one final hoorah. Some that spoke to NEWS10 say the journey back to campus was a tough choice. “It's really hard to come back. I almost didn't come, but my best friends, we planned a little weekend out of it and I'm glad I came. I'm getting a little, but it's hard to be here and walk around and know we won't be able to come back,” said Jessica Veneto.
Others took time to reflect on the forged relationships they had made and just how valuable they are. “We met on Star Day, before freshman year,” said Mikenzie Matheson.
Her best friend, Angelica Esposito, shared, “I'm emotional because I love this girl so much! We met in 2018 before the school closed and was having true issues.”
“Ever since then we've been the best of friends, thick as thieves,” finished Matheson.
Overcome with the emotion of the day for two Golden Roses, the term for Saint Rose alumni who are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their graduation from the College.
“This is a Bittersweet day for us. this is our golden roses 50th class reunion and the final one,” the women.
Theresa Belfance, Coordinator for Student Engagement and Campus Activities, says there’s are plenty of opportunities to walk down memory lane during the event. “We have our artwork gallery that's been submitted by our alumni. We have class gatherings by the decades, we have school meetups. So much happening, just to live in the positive rather than be sad,” said Belfance.
The College of Saint Rose President, Marcia White, making an appearance at the celebration. “For 104 years we had a great opportunity to have an excellent education. And that's what we celebrate,” said White.
Before the somber luminary service to say goodbye began it kicked off with a familiar tune, the original college alma matter. A short time thereafter folks were placing their lanterns with their messages for the college on them along the courtyard for a final farewell.
Chassidy Medina recited her literary piece title “Every Rose Has Thorns” which she dedicated to ken Scott.
Raise your hand if you have life insurance. Some of us are prepared. I'm not prepared today. I'm especially not prepared in this moment. I used to hear p*** poor preparation equals p*** poor performance. Truth be told, a tough crowd still going to applaud it. Majority of people spend their life worrying about the end. The last moment. The last breath.
Where should we place the tomb? Maybe on the quad right outside of Saint Joes to symbolize the death of some amazing programs at Saint Rose. Time travel back to 2016. If you know, you know. We are gathered here today to pay our respects to the place we once called "Home." Did anyone prepare for this?
Raise your hand if you have a specialized collegiate funeral insurance.
Death is final, goodbye is NOT. Goodbyes are hard, goodbyes are emotional, but goodbye is not the end. So while I prefer a more accurate "see you later" I actually am learning to love goodbye.
Goodbye is freedom. Goodbye is a new beginning. An end is merely the beginning to something greater in store.
When we lay a loved one to rest, we gather and decorate with flowers. This is quite literally the largest gathering of metaphoric roses ???? specifically that I've had both the honor and privilege to witness. Consider our Saint Rose "Home" fully decorated.
Homes are created... in people in places and in experiences. Homes are shared... out of necessity, desire, special occasions, and unforeseen circumstances you see HOME is what you choose it to be. Home is where you feel safe, happy, loved and sometimes home is what you run away from. Homes tell a story, they have a history, they hold core memories. Homes smell like nostalgia and sound like high emotions from passionate arguments. Home is where we choose. We choose to take on the day, we choose our outfits we choose our meals we choose to expand or shrink our families as each one of us is choosing simultaneously in a moment to be exactly that... in the same moment, in the same time together at home, wherever home may be.
When Strose rebranded as "HOME." I remember walking from the library towards the dining hall seeing the first sign and hearing a student say, “they can't be more stupid this is not home to me." My thoughts began to race and my journey to sit alone in the dining hall turned into a swim through a sea of tears as I remembered every moment on this campus where I realized I was not home...
Every ???? has thorns.
While it's true we spend time cutting away those thorns and preparing the flower itself that portion of the journey is minimal in the end. When the vase is full, roses standing tall the only concern becomes the display... the finished product. That's the beauty of flowers being inanimate objects, they're ALWAYS prepared, they can be manipulated, disregarded, adjusted as necessary and the final arrangement will be all the viewers remember.
Quite the opposite for us "Rose Buds" ????
Some of us are still budding.
Some of us are golden.
Some of us are fully bloomed and on display.
But every one of us roses had thorns.
For us the significance lies more in our journey than the final arrangement. We remember the moments where we reached out in the community, rose rocked on the quad, t-peed this tree every Halloween.
We remember every petal of a memory that we created here. We are fully arranged in our daily lives at work, at new schools, with our families and our friends. We are not only the bloomed but the ones still blooming. We are literal roses personified.
We're alive....
I want to acknowledge that many beautiful roses couldn't make it today physically.
Our petals will fall.
The leaves on our stems will wilt.
The beauty of a rose is perennial.
And real florists know perennials always come back, often more beautiful than they were when they were first planted.