Blink

June arrives tomorrow - and with it the anniversaries of two events that shaped my adulthood more than anything else: career and marriage. This year, however, seems especially important because of the number of years that have passed between the actual events and now. As they say, "In the blink of an eye..."


Blink.


Ten years ago on June 2, I finished my PhD (in public policy). It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since I defended my dissertation and was hooded in front of thousands of people, but it's true. Ten years. It was a weekend of celebrations. By the end, I just stumbled from one celebration to another. My wonderful sister, Jen, arranged for a small family celebration at the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain, the night before graduation. I think that there was also a departmental celebration and a hooding celebration that same day. On the day of graduation itself, Tim Russert gave the commencement speech, one that was dotted with conservative messages. The liberal faculty was trapped on stage behind a national media guru who was spewing conservative propaganda; I remember pained smiles on their faces. Neil, Dorothy, my mother and her husband-Ken, Jen, and my father attended the ceremony. After it was done, we drove back to Portland where we had a larger family celebration at an Italian restaurant in the Old Port, the name of which escapes me now. The day after, a celebration at our home with friends. Even Kathy Leavitt came from Maryland to celebrate with me, and of course the Rodericks. See what I mean? An endless parade of celebrations. Come to think of it, it was definitely worth celebrating. It seems especially fitting that ten years after I earned my PhD, I achieved tenure. I remember telling Traci (Lamarre) Lenzi in 2003 or 2004 that the first ten years of academia is a killer and then it's not so bad. I was right about the first part of the sentence. Given what tasks I have lined up for myself this summer, I'm not so sure about the latter.

Here I am, right after receiving my Ph.D.

Here are Dorothy and I after the ceremony. Dorothy was 12.

Here I am in the Old Port, yakking-it-up with family, before the Saturday night  Ph.D. family celebration. (For those of you who know me well, you'll see that I am carrying a purse. I actually bought a purse for this occasion. I still have it, of course.)

Blink.


Fifteen years ago on June 7, Neil and I were married at Jack Baker's restaurant on Bailey Island, near the Cribstone Bridge. Sheldon and Denise Tepler performed the wedding ceremony. We had a total of 24 people attend, including Neil, Dorothy, and me. Neil and I were sort of dreading the event in the final days before our wedding. We had a series of crises of one kind or another...Neil's colleague, Julie Verett, injured her back and couldn't play a scheduled performance. Trevor Johnson was up from Louisville, so he filled in. I can't remember where we got a tuxedo for Trevor. I do remember ironing a tux shirt for Trevor before he went off to play that concert on the day before our wedding. I had managed to forget about ordering flowers for the wedding, too. Everything was so low-key: small number of guests, I wore my mother's dress, Dorothy wore a dress from Filene's Basement (or something like that), no limos, and no professional photographers - instead we gave all of our guests disposable cameras and had them take photos. And, I forgot to order flowers! So, we made last minute arrangements for flowers with a florist on the Old Bath Road in Brunswick. I got a large basket for flowers that Dorothy held during the ceremony. I remember spray painting the basket and decorating it with pink ribbon. It's in our basement...still...with the same pink ribbon. When I picked up the flowers, I remember that I ran into Joe Pottle or Joe Bull in the parking lot...I can't remember which was his last name..from elementary school. He didn't recognize me, but I remember thinking that I was definitely taking a step from childhood into adulthood by getting married. Seeing that childhood classmate was symbolic in some way. As it turned out, our wedding was wonderful: beautiful weather, good company, excellent job by the Teplers, Dorothy was excited and happy, excellent food, wonderful setting, and on and on. Neil and I truly had a wonderful time. Turns out that we've been having a wonderful time, pretty much ever since, too.

Picture of us with the Teplers (minus Maya - she was away that weekend). One of my favorite photos. I love how the confusion of the moment was captured. The only person ready to pose for the photo was Sheldon - it all looks very genuine.

I love this picture of me with my parents after the wedding.

This was right after we were married. Dorothy started passing out flowers to everyone who was present.

I wonder what the next blink will bring?