N. and I are both going to professional conferences on the same dates (November 7-10). I’m going to Michigan and he is traveling to San Francisco.
I love the idea of being this professional couple who goes to scholarly conferences at the same time. It is also really great that N.’s company encourages him to continue his research, go to conferences, and publish. People who leave the academia for the industry in his field almost always discover that their research activities end forever.
When I told this to my mother, she reminded me of this great song from the times of the Civil War. It goes something like the following:
He got to orders to march to the West
And she had to leave for the East
The young Communists were leaving
To fight in the Civil War.
“We are leaving each other for a long time,
So wish me something good, sweetheart.”
And the sweetheart responded,
“I wish you with all my heart
That if you encounter death,
It should be fast.
And if you get a wound,
That it should be light.”
Here is the song:
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