For the second year in a row, SH was invited to speak at a conference given by a certain private equity firm. As an added perk, he is allowed to bring a + one. Thank goodness he still wants me to be his + one!

Before last year, I had never ever been to Nantucket even though we had lived in Boston for nine years. Beaches are generally not my thing, and, besides, there was no way we could afford Nantucket when we first got married and he was finishing his medical training and I was working on my doctorate.

The investment group sat in a conference room for one and a half days listening to presentations and asking questions. I did manage to crash one of the talks to hear a former head of the FDA give an insider perspective on how that department is run. He was an incisive speaker with impressive experience, and he shared specific stories of how he facilitated the intersection of science and politics to produce results — such as more swiftly approved drugs.

After gate-crashing that talk, I joined the other ladies (spouses and significant others) for a cruise on a beautifully restored 1920s yacht called Belle.  We enjoyed a two-hour cruise of Nantucket Harbor, saw the Great Points Lighthouse, ate lunch, and drank individually made cocktails. Not too bad.

 

The conference ended on Saturday and so SH and I had an entire day to explore Nantucket on our own. We borrowed bikes and rode 4 miles across the island to Cisco Beach. We should have also borrowed a couple of towels from the hotel so we could sit more comfortably on the hot sand to watch people and dogs playing in the waves. One Golden Retriever had a great deal of fun racing into the waves to bring back a floating toy which his master threw in multiple times. Then it was his master’s turn. The man suited up in a wetsuit, grabbed his board, and left his good dog under an umbrella while he did some body surfing. The dog just laid down in the shade and watched his master with his toy held between his front paws.

It was a glorious day for the beach after the previous day which had been grey and misty.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Cisco Brewery to have a beer and a bite of lunch. SH ordered the tacos and Mexican street corn — he even got me an ear of corn to eat. I ordered the Chef’s choice poke bowl. The bowl came with lots of pickled ginger which I happily shared with SH who adores ginger more than I do. We both had refreshingly cold beers. He ordered the English style Whale’s Tail Pale Ale, and I got the Belgian style Grey Lady.

This summer, we two are spending a great deal of time together on various trips which are all the byproducts of his scientific and clinical success treating pediatric cancer.

We tell each other it will not last — and it won’t.

However, for now, we are going to enjoy each of these opportunities to have amazing experiences together. And I am grateful.