May the Tribe Increase

We had a fabulous spring day last Sunday, so we decided to hop in the truck and take a little road trip to Oxford, Ohio, home of our alma mater Miami University.  It wasn’t totally on a whim.  Mike’s cousin, Conor Egan, plays baseball for Kent State, and they just happened to be in Oxford playing Miami.  Mike has 2 cousins that currently attend Miami.  Kate Delaney is a freshman this year, and joined us for the game.  Conor’s brother, Brian, is a junior at  Miami, but he’s studying abroad in Italy this semester.

We started off our visit by having lunch at Skipper’s Pub.  My favorite memory of Skipper’s is having breakfast there on my way home from Green Beer Day festivities.  I asked for french toast and got two pieces of burnt toast and a couple of packets of maple syrup.  And it was damn good.  After lunch we strolled through uptown.  We walked down to the baseball field and watched Kent State come back to beat Miami. 

Here are a couple of shots we took during our stroll through campus.  In this one you can see 2 of my favorite things from Miami.  Elena’s standing near the seal, which tradition says that stepping on the seal ensures failure of your next exam.  Behind her you can see a stone arch.  That building is known as Upham Hall, and everyone who goes to Miami knows that if  you kiss someone under the arch you’ll marry that person.  Worked for us!  Mike actually proposed to me under that arch in the fall of ’95 and next month we’ll celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary.

Here’s a shot Elena took of Mike and I under the arch:

Mike and I are what’s known as Miami Mergers.  Apparently Miami has an unusually high number of alums married to other alums (14.7% of the total living Miami Alumni population!).  Every year the University sends us a Valentine’s Day card, and on the back of the card there’s always this saying:

"When two hearts beat as one and both attended Miami, it’s a Miami Merger.  May the tribe increase."

We’ll do our best!