Holy

Three years ago, I began a conversation with E, a professor who heads a lab working on a some fascinating flowers. I had known of E for a number of years, given her reputation, but it was my first time reaching out to her to discuss postdoctoral training and potentially working with her.

Over the next few years, E would become my mentor. Following an interview with her prior to Grey's cousin's wedding, we began working on proposals for fellowships for me. Despite continual rejection, E continued to support me, remaining in contact and supporting me as I drafted more proposals for jobs and additional funding. All the while, despite continual bleak results, she encouraged me. She's become a trusted mentor.

Today, after driving into the city to pick Grey up from work and successfully finding a lone parking spot, I took a moment to check my email before dragging the Beats to a local coffee shop. The whole family has been sick for the past month, but with both Beats cutting molars sleep has basically been nonexistent for both Grey and me. So sitting in the car in an already dazed state, I did a double-take when a saw an email from E titled "Award Recommendation." Curious, I opened it to see what was happening.

"AWESOME NEWS!!!" she wrote. "Just heard from NSF that they have found the $ to fully fund our award."

Then she asked me the question I never thought I would hear: "So what do you think? I know you're pretty settled out there and I imagine your husband hasn't been looking in Boston but is there still a chance you could come?"

There are moments you get life-changing bad news. It hits you like a ton of bricks, leaving you numb from the shock while the grief begins to brew in your stomach. It's funny how life-changing good news can initially start out the same, but usually result in a response most would interpret as bad.

It took me closed to 5 minutes to control the sobs that over came me. Sitting in the shadow of Amazon, I'm sure those that past by would have thought something horrible had just happened instead of the dream I had worked so hard for finally materializing.

Grey and I are talking tonight. There's a lot to think about with all of this and how we will make any of this happen. But his response as well as the response from others have all started out with "HOLY." And he's been all smiles since then, telling me without a second thought that we are going to make this happen. This is the news we've been waiting for to push this transition. Can I tell you how much I love this man?