When asked, I’ll bet just about everyone could identify their own special place. A spot somewhere on the globe that, when they find themselves there, they wish time could stand still. A place full of memories and special meaning. That, while not possible yet, but some day, they’d love to be able to fire up an app that would magically take them there, after a bad day at work or any of the other day-to-day annoyances we face.

Maybe I’m greedy, but I have at least a half-dozen of such places in my collection. But at the top of the list is “the Quad” at the University of Washington, especially on a sunny day in late March, when those gorgeous cherry trees break out into thousands and thousands of blossoms.

It rivals the show in early April when the tulip fields of Skagit County put on their show. Man, catch that on a sunny day, and you’ll max out the memory on your phone before you know it.

Yeah, pretty stunning stuff, but I only work in a visit up to Mount Vernon every couple of years. The cherry blossoms at the U.W. have the definite edge in being one of my all-time favorite places because of its location and the history that goes along with it.

I admit, there was a long stretch of years where I didn’t bother to swing by campus. But it’s now been 50 since I wandered around there, trying to figure out what I was going to do for the rest of my life and making so many life-long friends along the way. Every time I set foot on the grounds of the University of Washington, it just takes me back.

The Quad was one of the routes I took back in those days, on my way to the Communications Building, which was my major. The odds are pretty good that, on the way there, I probably walked by the girl that I would end up marrying decades later, as she was a Husky, too.

Visit this special place on a sunny day and you’ll find a vibrant collection of people excited for what they’re looking at, posing for pictures, serious photographers trying something new or getting shots with models striking poses. People show up in formal wear, costumes, even bridal gowns. You’ll see all ages, all ethnicities, all smiling away and it makes you realize, you know, if we wanted to, we all really could get along.

But what seals the deal on the Quad being at the top of my life of special places is because during the cherry blossom season, I’m not only reminded of that school’s stunning beauty but also about a friend that left too soon 10 years ago.

I’ve written about Bill Strothman before. His tragic death a decade ago was a big-time reminder that this can all just go away in the flash of a moment. Monday, March 18th of this year marked the 10-year anniversary of the helicopter crash that claimed Bill’s life. When I was reminded of that on social media, the almost 70-degree day outside and a report on the radio saying that the cherry blossoms were at their peak pretty much locked that I was heading there in the afternoon for a quick visit.

The next thing you know, there I was. In the place I spent those incredible college years, remembering the awesome friends I made, enjoying a  flood of memories and then, when you toss in those incredible cherry blossoms, it becomes obvious why this definitely tops the list of my collection of special places.

It really is about as special as a place can get.

Tim Hunter