1 Ah, May 26! I'll be keeping you in my thoughts. I remember well the day of my own defense, up the road at Duke: December 5, 1991. There I was, striding in to campus early in the morning, unaccustomedly wearing a suit and tie. It was the 200th or 300th anniversary of the birth of some famous musician, I can't remember who now; it was also the day that Gorbachev announced that, in just a few weeks, the Soviet Union would be going out of business. But my mind was on other things. I remember the departmental secretary trying to reassure me. I remember going over to the library to make a last-minute acid-free photocopy of the page my committee members would have to sign. I remember my life flashing before my eyes. May 26. Like I say, I'll be keeping you in my thoughts.

2 You're going to do a brilliant job. (How soon before you go to med school?) :^)

3 Wow, I can't even imagine. Good luck and hopefully the next few weeks will go fast for you. Or would you like it to go slow for more time? Well, whatever it is that you want, I wish that for you :-)

4 Thanks, everyone! I need the encouragement. I'm not worried about the meeting, but the writing sucks

5 Heh, this is kind of insider joke stuff, but in talking to my mom tonight, I found out the family court date for the Caruthers mess is also May 26. The end of a couple eras, eh?