Goodness, Lindsay, HAPPY RETIREMENT!!!  if I’d known sooner I would have driven over the pass to be there with you today!!!  Meeting you and Beret changed the course of my life and I am eternally grateful to you!

I met you in the summer of 1997 when I joined the Undergraduate Advising Center for a part-time gig while in grad school.  I was close to finishing that Ph.D. but my heart wasn’t really in it.  I kept going because it’s what was expected, and I wasn’t really sure what I’d do with myself if I didn’t.

When we did Dependable Strengths together that summer, I learned of your journey, the academic pathway in Romance Lit/Film left behind for greener pastures, and it opened my eyes.  You were the example I needed to see, the super duper smart person who said, “yeah, that was interesting, but I’m not becoming a faculty member.”  I decided to listen to what was in my heart rather than just what was in my intellect.

I’ve now been an academic counselor for nearly 20 years, and I still love what I do.  I honestly thank you for helping me see the light.  But of course I have much more to thank you for–you have always been a helpful sounding board, an inimitable gardening resource, such a caring friend.  Whenever anyone asks me who my mentors were, you are one of the people I mention.

All the best in your retirement.  If you’re ever over my way, PLEASE let me know and stop in to see me.  I have no azaleas or rhodies, but my lilacs are amazing in May.  And there are some plants that need identifying . . .  🙂

With gratitude and joy,

Megan