Lasts; What Will We See Next Time?

Some people celebrate "firsts": the first date, the first job, the first apartment and...well, you get the idea.

But now I find myself marking "lasts." Today's "last" was a fairly minor one. But I can't help thinking about it.

My department's last meeting of the academic year was held today. Nobody relishes meetings; they're always too long and feature too many battling egos. Today's meeting wasn't quite as bad in this respect as the previous two or three meetings. But it was indeed long: I had almost no time between it and the class I taught.

Although I see, if only in passing, most of the faculty members on most days that I am at the college, this may well be the last time I see a few of them before my surgery. Most of the rest will be gone in a couple of weeks, once final exams are done. I won't see them again until late August: the beginning of the new semester, and my first post-recovery days.

And what--who-- will they see? Even more to the point, at least from my view: What will I see?

I expect to have the same abilities and the same accumulated knowledge and wisdom (such as they are!) that I have now once I return from my surgery. But will my interests and priorities change? Is there anything I do now that I won't care to do?

I've changed over much less than what I'm about to experience.