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Youngest son Brett suggested that I read The Last Lecture. The book came from the notoriety gained when Professor Randy Pausch literally delivered his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon because he knew he was soon going to die. The lecture became one of the most viewed items on the internet. I finished the book on July 25th and then found this item in the next day’s news.
Randy Pausch, a prominent computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who became an instant sensation far beyond the classroom last year when he delivered his inspiring "Last Lecture," knowing he had only months to live, died July 25 at his home in Chesapeake, Va. He was 47.
That was a little weird. The book and the lecture on YouTube is inspirational and thought provoking. Pausch’s response to a terrible disease was remarkable. Here is just one little tidbit from the book and lecture.
“We can’t change the cards we’re dealt, just how we play the hand. If I’m not as depressed as you think I should be, I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
Because of Joni’s recent battle with breast cancer this story was especially poignant. We have had to face our mortality in very real ways. I began to think about what my last message might be if I found myself in Randy Pausch’s situation. I read the obituaries everyday and it often makes me sad to see a life with nothing of value to report. Some obits are not much more than “Fred was a carbon based life form for 67 years”. I hope that most of the people who stumble to this site want to leave a little more behind than that.
I suspect I would plow much of the same ground as Randy. Have fun. Relax about the things that don’t really matter. Live fully in the moment. If I had to condense five decades and change down to a last message I think the outline might look something like this.
Love your wife.
Most of us repeated something like this on our wedding day.
I, (Guy in Hideous Tux), take you (What Were You Thinking Beautiful Bride), to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.
One of my last messages to young men and women would be to take those vows seriously. The word cherish is a word that guys don’t use much but it is one we should look up and learn the meaning. Dictionary.com defines it simply. To treat with affection and tenderness; hold dear. I wish I had cherished my wife more consistently over the years. I do plan to finish strong.
