The Last Lecture!

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
--Randy Pausch

If you were terminally ill, what would you do? Randy Pausch gave a lecture reminding us to live. On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008, but his legacy will continue to inspire.

I first heard of Randy sometime near the beginning of this year. Dan had some homework to do, so he went in the bedroom and I decided to see what was on t.v. I happened upon a dateline special that I had seen a commercial for earlier in the week and wanted to see, but had completely forgotten about. I watched the story of Randy Pausch and his life and his recent struggle with pancreatic cancer. They talked about his family and all of the things that he had accomplished in his job. As I watched the special I cried through the whole thing. He knew that he was going to die, and he was doing everything in his power to us the remaining time he had left to continue to life life to it's fullest. I think the most amazing part about the whole story was that he wasn't upset that cancer was ending his life, he was upset that he would be leaving his 3 small children without a father. He knew that they would probably never remember him very will, so he did everything in his power to make and preserve special memories with his children. Having lost my own father as a teenager, I was do grateful and touched by what he was doing for his children, and wished that my father could have done the same. After the special I thought about him and wondered how he was doing. Then my birthday came and to my surprise, there was a book called The Last Lecture. It was the book that Randy had written, based on his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon. I hadn't even remembered that the book was coming out, but my husband did. As I read the book all of the feelings of the Dateline special came back. It is an amazing book, full of real honest advice and perspective that could only be given by someone who knew their life was ending and knew what really matters in life. I feel truly blessed to have profited from the tragic end of this amazing man's life. It is really one of the best books I have ever read. It reminds we that sometimes things seem like a huge deal, but really they are just trivial. I have a wonderful life and I am so blessed. I have a great husband, who takes amazing care of me. We are having a baby who is healthy and growing well, and we have great insurance to cover it. We have a home and we have money to cover the things we need. And most importantly all the people we love are healthy. I am so blessed!

Read it! It will change your life, I promise!