When I was in the ninth grade our school had a “go to work with a parent” day. My dad died when I was very young and my mother works in a battered woman’s shelter, so that was not an option for me. My uncle, who is a university professor, invited me to shadow him for a day and I jumped at the chance. I thought it would be so cool to hang out with college students for a day.

Before long, I met the man of my dreams. It was a student that came to my uncle’s office for advice with his research proposal. I had never seen anything that looked that good.

While he was waiting for my uncle to get off the phone, I decided to engage him in conversation. I asked him about his thesis. Big mistake. I kind of forgot that I was only fifteen and did not understand a word he said.

I kept nodding politely and when we were done, I thanked him for telling me about his dissertation. He seemed pretty impressed when he thought that I actually understood what he was doing.

Maybe I will tell him the truth at our wedding.