Thank you for subscribing to this weekly update from Dr. Rita Deyoe-Chiullán, retired professor of Applied Linguistics. Office Hours is written and edited by her son and Teaching Assistant, Moisés Chiullán.

Whether you were already one of her nearly six decades of students or not, you are now!

So that you can find it easily, this post will continue to serve as a preface to the newsletter, include Zelle/Paypal/Venmo/contribution links, and it will be updated over time as necessary.

an image of Rita's Senior class portrait — Rita’s Senior portrait

What to Expect

Every Sunday morning (Central Texas Time), you’ll get an email like this one.

Like an Honors Seminar, the course this newsletter takes can (and should) be influenced by your input.
The full archives will always be available to you as a subscriber, whether you have been with us from the start or joined later in our open-ended term.
Please make sure to catch up in sequence, as various planned topics will definitely involve a serialized cadence.
You’ll receive updates about (and in some cases from) Rita, in addition to the aforementioned already-planned topics.
Rita will take her metaphorical “Red Pen” to each issue prior to publication. Her notes will be provided at the end of each installment prior to sign off.
Email us any time, and the Professor and I will reply as soon as we can and do our best to help: WhatRitaTaughtMe@gmail.com

“What Rita Taught Me”

One topic in particular is specifically in need of your input.

If you were a student or colleague of Rita’s and have a story (or stories) you want to share, whether long or short, we want to include them. Did taking one of Rita’s courses or knowing her have an impact on your life?

If there are photos you have to share, please find and send those too!

I’ve heard stories over the years about how my mom was the reason people met and married their spouses, changed the course of their professional lives, and more.

It’s fine if it takes some time to collect your thoughts and/or photos if you have them.

Send us an email (WhatRitaTaughtMe@gmail.com) and I can help get things started.

Course Requirements

There is no “homework” unless you need there to be, don’t worry. This is not even “Pass/Fail.” You Pass by virtue of being here.

The only rule in place for this course is that my mom and I kindly request that you respect our boundaries of privacy and safety.

Regardless of how much we choose to share in these emails or otherwise, or how close you have personally been to her previously, please do not attempt to locate or visit Rita for any reason.

Her memory is already such that even slight disruptions to routines radically affect her stress and general health.

Dementia is a countdown clock.

You can feel it ticking down, but you never have concrete numbers to tell you just how much time is left until you have already arrived at one of those big drop-offs.

I started Office Hours with my mom’s permission to make the best use of however much time that ends up being. This allows me to safely share as much of her life and journey as possible while also not missing people who want things communicated to her.

The good thing going at the moment is that she is clear-minded enough to focus on this in a way that can help prevent that clock from ticking away any faster than it has to.

For my part, I hope that sharing some of my experiences as a caregiver will also helpful to you or someone you care about.

the author when he was a toddler, wearing an open-collar button down shirt under a blazer, smiling with his mouth open in a cropped family photo — Me, much smaller and slightly younger.

About the Editor

My mom has been fond of reminding me of late that I am her longest-term “creative or instructional design project.”

I’ve had an extremely varied career, including time in marketing and business consulting, acting & directing, and, for a while, I was a sort of talk show host on weekends at pop culture conventions across North America.

I’ve been actively podcasting as a host, co-host, and panelist on various shows going back to around 2010. My fiction and poetry have been published in literary magazines that no longer exist, so I really should get around to finding the clippings I may or may not have saved.

What almost everyone reading this does not know is that I almost died on my 42nd birthday.

The first installment of Office Hours (as of this writing to be sent on 26th April 2026) will tell that story.

Like I said previously, I’m writing this, so you know I’m ok!

In subsequent newsletters, I’ll tell you more about the days, weeks, and months that followed. There’s a lot of good to go with the tough times, promise.

That cold birthday night in mid-February and the months since have given me a sense of clarity I’ve never had before. It brought into sharp focus my need to be far more intentional about how I choose to spend however much time I have left.

I’m really glad to know that some of it is with you, whoever you are.

However dark and difficult the world may feel in a given moment, I promise that someone out there cares about you and what you’re going through. Somebody is rooting for you and believes in you.

It’s me. I am that someone.

I am rooting for you, and I believe in you.

I’ve spent 14 months and counting as of this writing telling my mom that in different ways at different points.

She believes me, most of the time.

She ought to.

I learned it from you, mom.

Talk to you soon. Make sure to get good rest, stay hydrated, and above all else…take good care of yourself.

Regardless of how today went, here’s to a better tomorrow. See you Sunday, bright and early.

-Moisés Chiullán