Prepare to Defend Yourself

We have been waiting, praying and longing for Jeremy's defense. At last it is booked for May 12th at 2:00 pm. In 2 months Jeremy will convince 4 faculty members that his research is valid and valuable. Quite frankly, if he can get FOUR faculty members in the same room at the same time with no real leverage, he must be ready to defend. Booking this gig has been an event in and of itself.

So what is it like to defend a dissertation. I don't know, but I have theories.

Did you ever take a LONG car ride and decide to not stop on the way, and thought you might explode by the time you reached your destination and its bathroom. I think that this must feel like that last five miles when you are still not sure you will make it (although, my surgically enhanced bladder makes this analogy some what mute for me, but that is a post for a different day).

Have you ever passed a due date for your child's birth with no birth? Yeah, I think this is like that.

When I hit the 13 mile point, and I am running 13.1 miles (half marathon length), that last .1 miles is VERY long.

Then I remember that Jeremy once ran a whole marathon. And I wonder if this is like running 13.1 miles more after you thought you were nearly done with the race. And I think that probably is the best analogy that I can come up with. It makes me proud of my husband.

If we had known what this path would really look like, well, probably we wouldn't have started down this road. But we did. And Jeremy always finishes what he starts. We have a number of unknowns still in our lives. Where will we live next year topping the list. But I know Jeremy will have met this milestone with grace and strength, as he tackles all the things in life. So on May 12th you will probably hear more on this topic, but for now, know that Jeremy is at last preparing to defend himself.