The Last Lecture

This is not a book review, it's a discovery.

I've been a complete mess for the past three days, and I think I've discovered why. I just finished listening to 'The Last Lecture,' and this thing tore me up!

Of course whatever is going on with Ema's tibia is on the front of my mind at all times these days, so maybe it wasn't the best time for me to "read" or listen to this audio book. I think my timing was a bit off. Perhaps after the biopsy in a few weeks, but it's done - no going back now - it's in my head.

That being said, this book has made me realize some important things that I'm really glad I know right now, at the expense of bringing our situation even closer to the surface. I don't regret listening to it, but it's a book that I'll have to 'recover' from and take its messages into the future while leaving the pain behind.

Randy Pausch did a great job of summarizing his life and his dreams in this book, and he did so without being sticky-sweet about it. He's a realist, and his honesty was evident throughout. It provided him with an immediate integrity which helped me better absorb his words rather than question them as I do from so many self-help authors.

Plain and simple, it just hit so close to home that I began playing too many "what if" scenarios in my head. It's hard not to. I imagine I'd do the same thing even if Ema didn't have cancer. With the disease though, it made it all very real.

Thanks Randy for writing this book and giving your lecture. Thanks for providing us with words and simple wisdom that will live, not only in your children's minds and hearts for years to come, but in ours as well.