Beginning Some Endings

Brain cancer is...

 ...beginning some endings.

Today we had the pleasure of sitting in the audience to watch Zachary present some of the research included in his nearly completed master's thesis. 

Presented for a CSUF Student Showcase and Research Symposium, his paper was entitled, "An Emperor's Journey with Trauma:  Basil II of Byzantium."

Yes, he loved that I took pictures...not! But the public has a right to know, darn it.

What a great 10 minutes for us as fiancee and parents to watch Zach command the audience and build a rock solid argument about the meanings of a life lived so long ago.

Darrell and I couldn't help but be struck by the notion that we face the beginning of some important endings.  Summer finished her master's degree in counseling with aplomb in December.  Zach hopes to finish this semester.  Did you know that it's been three years?  Three years we were fortunate to have with Summer and Zachary. 

But new adventures are in the wings for Summer and Zachary, beginnings that cannot commence without the endings to current adventures.  Out with the old, in with the new...adventures!

 

Fun Fact Bonus Content 

Did you know that, had Darrell not become an engineer, he would have become a historian?  Zachary gives Darrell much credit for his early love of history.  I was struck by this fact today too, as I was in the academic presence of two of my favorite men.  There is something wonderful about a passion passed from father to son. Rethinking this post, maybe "endings" and "beginnings" are transient things, and really what matters is what we give to each other throughout time.