Randy Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie-Mellon University whose “last lecture” brought him to international prominence for his courage, his compassion and his humanity while facing a terminal illness. If you haven’t seen his now famous lecture it is well worth the hour you’ll invest. There are lessons there for all of us regardless of our age, health, gender, race, or economic status. His talk reaches across all boundaries and is an eloquent example where a man with little time left to live nevertheless reminds each one of us that we owe it to ourselves, our loved ones and the world not to take a single day for granted because you never know how many days you might have left.
Even though I never met Randy, his death hits me particularly hard as I am still personally dealing with unexpectedly losing my closest friend, Marc Orchant, just a few months ago. It seems to me that Randy and Marc had a lot in common – no doubt they would have been friends and who knows, perhaps they have become friends in another world. It seems a sad truth that the best of us are always taken away far too soon. My heart goes out to those that Randy left behind I am sure the void must be vast although I am sure that Randy’s wife and children must feel enormous pride at the way Randy chose to handle this incredibly painful hand of cards (as he put it) that he was dealt. Randy, like Marc, will be missed.
Loss like this is often difficult… but after watching the “Last Lecture” I couldn’t help but think what a massive and collectively positive effect Randy Pausch’s departure has created, around the world.