From the Archive: Of Birthdays, Theses and Manufactured Memories

August 29th, We celebrated Ben's 30th birthday at his parents house in between fits of last minute revisions to his M.A. thesis. The cake reads, "Thesis a 30th Birthday Wish," which is why Ben's copy of Pedro Páramo is above the cake, it's the novel he wrote about in his thesis. (We forgot to put the "th" after the "30").

This is Ben's favorite dessert that I make, eclair torte. We also had some teriyaki tri-tip, grilled chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes and greens. The food was wonderful and the company was even better. Those present: Ben's Mom and Dad, his sister Michelle and brother-in-law Nate, his "Aunt and Uncle" Patricia and Tom, and his cousin Shannen and her boyfriend Rick. It was quite fun.

September 10th, Ben defended his thesis: Remembering the Ghost: Pedro Páramo and the Ethics of Haunting. (He just sent off the hard copies to get published last week). The defense went well, it wasn't a slaughter and it's the most in depth I've ever heard Ben talk about his thesis so that was interesting. It was also a huge hurdle to get over so it was nice to have it done. Here he is with his committee after the defense: Doug Weatherford, David Laraway and Greg Stallings.

Ben wasn't allowed to walk in the graduation ceremony because he didn't defend by a certain date. He found this out after he ordered his cap and gown. So one Sunday before church we drove up to campus and took some quick pictures with all the regalia just before it started to sprinkle. The kids were very cooperative and we got some decent pictures too.

Here's Ben and the kids with "Brother Brigham" in front of the administration building on campus. It was a short manufactured "graduation ceremony," the pictures just took ten minutes. We left that same week for California. It's all a blur now.