Dissertation Rumination

Abstract

The email read, “…as you all know, Leslie is planning to retire at the end of the academic year.” My eyes stopped at the end of that sentence. Retire? I didn’t know she was planning to retire. I immediately began to worry. How could Leslie retire? What about conference presentations, data collection, Sociolinguistics class? Then I thought about it for another minute and started to smile. “Yeah,” I sighed, “I guess I can imagine it.” Leslie peering through binoculars at birds, hiking with Bruce in national parks, and delving into Native American arts. Good-bye staff meetings, deadlines, paperwork, committees, and email. In my mind’s eye, however, I see the door to Room 317 slam shut, and in the darkness, I start to reminisce about the many years I spent in that office as a student, assistant, and in the end, a friend.