The Thesis

It's just a thesis. The work continues but I won't be doing it under the watchful eyes of committed professors and readers. And I'll be doing it elsewhere. Far away. No more winters. No more UPS deliveries. No more solitary drives in the country.

I printed 182 pages (x 3) on Friday afternoon and left the front matter for later. I thought it would be the easiest part to write but I know now that the acknowledgements page is vaguely similar to an Oscar acceptance speech (except I'm not winning any prize) - I wanted to thank every person I knew, but probably forgot a few. What was supposed to be a page turned out to be two pages; so I had to trim it down and thank just the people who've helped me, stayed close, written me (even when I didn't write back), loved me (even when I was grumpy, ugly, and impossible to bear) in the past two years that I've been here.

I've excerpted that page here, seeing as how a few of you might like to know that somewhere in the vaults of the English department at Michigan, there's a thesis bearing your name.

"For their friendship and support, I express my deepest gratitude to Liesel Litzenburger, Boon Hwang Lim, Peiming Lee, Jake Kline, Jia Lim, Noella Yan, Leslie Yeo, Frank Chiou, Kay Zavislak, Simon Lee, Jenny Knowles, Chris and Amy Horvath, Karen Yeo, Barney Pelter, Desiree Lim, Joan Ho, Van Tan, and Heng-Ru May Tan.

I am indebted to the following individuals; their faith has kept me writing. My parents, Jeff and Irene, who passed down to me their love of books, journeys, and dreams. Ke, my brother. My grandparents, Daisy and Richard. Gina Ymasa. Lin Kiat's parents. My sister-in-law, Christine. And Lin Kiat, my best friend, my fellow geek, my husband, who believed my writing was worth losing two years of our married life."

*Today, the 16th of April, is also the death anniversary of my grandmother, who died 17 years ago. My undergraduate thesis (also in the vaults of the English department) was dedicated to her, and its cover shows a studio picture of her as a young girl and her father, my great-grandfather.

Lin Kiat helped me proofread and send that thesis for binding years ago. This was when we were just dating, when I was a nicer person, and when Lin Kiat was driving a beat-up Honda that cost $1000. I have no idea why I'm mentioning these facts, but it's really fun to recall them. After all, it wasn't as fun this time without him to witness me in manic mode.