Is There A Doctor In The House?

It just happened that our trip to see my grandmother coincided with the date that my brother was to defend his doctoral dissertation for his PhD in Math Education. He did his presentation on Tuesday morning and we spent the rest of the day celebrating with family and friends – first at a restaurant in a fun downtown district in Portland, then we came home long enough to change into casual clothes, then we went to a fun pub downtown again. We had a terrific time and I’m so proud of him! He has worked really hard on this for so long and it was a lot of fun to be part of the final chapter and celebration.

So, Professor Swinyard now will be teaching at a local university in their math department in the fall. I caught myself thinking during his defense, “How is it that two such different children came from the same parents?” He’s a total brainiac…my sister-in-law bought him a t-shirt a year ago that says “Mathlete” – it’s very fun. And a Mathlete he his. I’m hoping that he can help our girls with their math problems some day. And maybe I can help him accessorize or decorate or something. I’m much more artsy than academic. Just smart in different ways, I guess. :)