Roman and Greek classics are, as I see it, the wellspring of Western culture itself, and those feelings, sensations, and histories documented by Sappho, Tacitus, et alia are a persistent memory bank of the perpetual human condition— which is why I think Mnemosyne, Titan of Memory, is the mother of the Muses. And beyond any value that can be ascribed to classical studies, I think the classics are just darn interesting and fun to wrestle with. I can talk with anyone ad nauseam on Euripides’ Bacchae, after all, and mostly because I find grappling with its content to be fulfilling and enjoyable to me. But, to wrap a neat bow on my short ramble so far, the classics mean everything to me, and I am eternally grateful for the home I have found with like-minded people at the JCL. Gratias Maximas, VJCL! You all are the people who make this community, this study, this passion as special and wonderful as it is