Did you know that two of the authors of "Reflections & Connections: Personal Journeys Through the Life Sciences," taught at THE Ohio State University? One is a veterinarian and the other a plant biotechnologist, both from the Department of Microbiology at The Ohio State University. After 46 years when we met to celebrate the publication of the paperback copy, I heard one OSU prof say to his former student of long ago, "When you come to a football game, park at my house." Wow, was I jealous. It seems like such a little thing, but means so much. I overheard it. How wonderful, just knowing where your long time professor lives, he invites you to park at his house instead of the very crowded stadium parking. We might get back home to Cleveland or visit friends in Columbus for an extra hour that we usually spend walking to our car and trying to leave the area -- the tailgate parties are incredible, hard to walk by them before or after the game. I always wanted to have a tailgate party, but WOW, do they pack much in their cars! The profs who invited me to their homes turned out to be true friends, real people, but not everyone feels comfortable having persons at their home, especially students.
In any case it shows the spirit of THE Ohio State University, the interest of alumni in attending games, and the dedication of the faculty in sharing their home. Pretty special I think. I admire that professor very much -- here is the secret, he is the veterinarian editor/author of the series. He is responsible for Volume 2 and if you want to know his name or his fascinating story, check out the Ebook (bargain at $3.99 which includes both volumes) or buy the paperback copy of Volume 2. I promise that you will not put his chapter down until you finish it and will wish it had continued. Wow, is he a great writer. By the way, he has other books on Amazon.com. The professor used Dragon in working on the book, chose the persons included in Volume 2 (all but one), advised them on writing, sent chapters back to be re-edited, yet does not use the term "MENTORING," the term is NOT in his vocabulary as I quickly realized when speaking to him, but he knows what it means to help students. It was the life of his work to help.
The idea of Reflections had been in his head for more years than most of us live. Who has not thought of such a work? Many of us have similar ideas at the same time, but not everyone has the will to do this at age 87, or get a network of former students together. I am 66 and it almost all stopped for me this past Dec 5 per an anatomical fluke and carrying to many Christmas packages to the post office. The professor I am blogging about lost his wife in 2010, the year my husband had a coma and was paralyzed, and my Mom living with us had seizures. It was a tough year for many. If I make it to age 87, I will think of this prof and my mother who made it to 94 1/2 with all faculties until the last moment when she left us to Brahm's Lullaby. At the moment, I feel lucky if I make it through the day, but am so happy, the happiness compensates for the unknown ahead of me, the aches and pains I was lucky to never have, and the feeling of aging I continue to be blessed not to have, although my 5 miles per day of walking is now limited to 1 mile, which I hate to say takes the same amount of time. An elderly lady said to me at the track yesterday, "I am so glad YOU are here as I am no longer the slowest on this track, you are!" This is good for me, to be the slowest, to feel how it feels to struggle with basics everyday and make it look as if all is O.K. with the world. Just being here and seeing the beautiful colors and bright white snow is wonderful.
We used to attend every game for which we got tickets in the alumni lottery for many years, over 30 years, until 2010 when we could not attend. However, I told my husband at the time, if he makes a guick recovery there might still be a chance. There was not, but I know it helped him. The President of the OSU Alumni Association for Cleveland lived on our street and we had the best pool for OSU tickets one can imagine. If we got a ticket to a game while the weather was still good, not yet cold in Columbus, we might consider going again, but we run multiple TV'a and never miss a game.
Reflections & Connections includes snapshots of some of us who attended OSU. It was our advisers of 40+ years that got us together. Per my own adviser, I was his first graduate student, making me his oldest in that department.
If you are interested in scientists in almost any area from plants to animals to medicine, check out theEebook copy of Reflections & Connections: Personal Journeys Through the Life Sciences and tell us what you think of the book on this blog, good or bad, we would love to hear from you.
Look for our tweets to #GoBucks for Monday's championship game, GO BUCKs!
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