This is Phil. Phil was one of the first friends I made in Trinity Hall, being a year ahead of me in the English PhD. He had a rough time in the run-up to submitting, as you may recall. However, he recovered his peace of mind in the following weeks, and yesterday he passed his viva (defense), as we all knew he would. Celebrations were in order.
Over the course of the evening, many friends came and went, sharing their congratulations and joy over a pint or a whisky. We made our way from the Castle down to the Maypole and finally made a quick stop at the ADC (theatre) bar, whence we departed in search of greasy food and at last collapsed into chairs in the MCR sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning. When we realized we were all essentially falling asleep, we called it a night (or a morning?). This morning, I helped Phil schlep his luggage to the taxi and sent him off with one last hug.
Since then I've just been poking around in a glorious, golden afternoon, waiting for Boat Club Dinner tonight and feeling a bit melancholy. It's a funny feeling, that sedate little sadness, because it's not entirely sadness. I'm so, so happy for my friend and proud of him both for writing a superb dissertation and for pulling through a difficult time. I'm grateful that I was able to be there to support him when he needed his friends, and I'm touched by his earnest admonition that I call on him for the same kind of help if I ever need it, any time of day or night. I had a wonderful time celebrating; it was the perfect end to his time at Cambridge. But a perfect ending is still an ending. As a fellow Tit Haller put it, "Phil is the MCR; I can't imagine it without him." The beauty of the feeble amber light in the sky and the hush of college now that term is over just added to the perfection of a day that marked a chapter's closing.
