Brick Walls are There for a Reason
So said Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch in his final lecture to 400 students, faculty and friends last week. The 46-year-old father of three was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, and after a recent aggressive recurrence has been given only a few months to live.
While this technically has little to do with genealogy, it has everything to do with the legacy we will leave for the generations to come. It also hit close to home for me (and even more likely for my mother). Her father, my Granddaddy Owens, lost his own battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 46. His untimely death, and the fact that I was the only grandchild he ever got to meet, was actually the original inspiration for my foray into genealogy. I hope he would be proud of the legacy he inspired.
Randy's lecture, which you can view or read online in its entirety, will most likely move you to tears. And hopefully inspire you to embrace your own brick walls, whether in your research, or in your life. For the rest, I'll let Randy's own words speak for themselves...Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.
Comments
Thank you so much for the links to Dr. Pausch’s last lecture. What an inspiration that man is.
I’m sure your Granddaddy Owens would be very proud of the legacy he inspired.
Thanks again.
Great talk! So many insights articulated with feeling! The appreciation of help-ers resonates, rings out to us as a rallying cry. I feel differently now about “brick walls” in the genealogy sense. The parallel of brick walls challenging us, serving as proving grounds is especially apt when working with our family/history. Thank you for pointing us to this lecture
Thank you for finding this. I am forwarding this to my son who wants to be a teacher. There are some great lessons here.
this is the best poem/quote i ever read cause when i read this it made me realize that if you want to do somthing in life you must take action on what ever it is that you are goin for and don’t let anyone put you down on somthing you can achieve and trying to accomplish. my advice to everyone out there is to dream big and reach for the stars cause you never know whats out there for you by me demetrius west!!! another quote i read was quite interesting ” follow your dreams, transfer your life beacause dreams become reality when intentions becomes an action”-paulo coelho
Heey! The babes are here! This is my best site to visit. I make sure I am alone in case I get too hot. Post your favorite link here.