After your thoughtfully reminding me of that article with this thread I now have the book on order.

Cancer Sucks.

I held my darling grandma’s hand when she died and had the other hand on the rail of her hospital bed. I can tell you for a minute that seemed like hours, I there was a noise like a roller coaster that kept on going and the room and rail were shaking as the “coaster” passed and I felt my grandma’s spirit move down her arm and out of our hands and pop like a soap bubble and there was total peace and silence and she was gone.
I couldn’t talk about it for years and then only told a few close friends.
God bless Randy.

I had 40 days with my Dad after his diagnosis, and was able to spend every moment with him until he was gone. I will never forget those few remaining days, nor would I ever trade them for anything.

Slightly different topic, but some of my former relatives indicated that deceased family members were present during their last moments to help take them away. I was present when my Dad died, and just before he did, he indicated that my Mom’s nephew (an avid Chesapeake Bay boater who had unexpectantly died 6 months earlier)was pulling up to sail him away. My Dad also conveyed a message from this relative – wishing us to tell his family that he was finally saying “goodbye” because he didn’t get the chance 6 months earlier.

If I read this on a political message board, I don’t know what I would think. But since it happened to my Dad, who was as old-school-no-nonsense as you can find, it brought my Faith to an entirely new level.

I wish everyone could have a last experience like I had with my Dad, with someone they love.

When I logged on last night I noticed that there haven’t been any updates in almost a month, which hasn’t happened before. Then when I saw your post here, I held my breath until I scanned all the way down because I thought for sure you were saying he was gone.

I have told many people in my life things I learned from postitive inspirational people like him. I had the distinct honor and privelage of setting in one of Zig Ziglars Bible studies, setting next to him during the church service and listening to one of his lectures, I also had the monumental honor of meeting Ronald Reagan at a business seminar that I attended that he spoke at after his Presidency he to was extremly inspirational.
Most peoples child hood dreams are never realized, at the age of 25 most loose those dreams and resign themselves to a J-O-B, something many do not like something they never imagined in their childhood that they would be doing. They let friends and family tell them “that’s impossible” or “you could never do that” little words that make a monumental impact to a child. I remember my mother telling me I could never work for Hallmark Cards when I was 16. I met an art teacher from another school when I was 17 that wanted to see my work, I took it over to his house and he looked at my artwork and said “Those are pretty good, but you could use some more schooling” he offered to turor me for no money all he wanted was to pick out what piece he wanted when we completed his lesson plan I agreed and we went to work 4 days a week for 8 months, I learned so much from him I can never repay him with any amount of money. I joined the Marine Corps when I turned 18, my mother called me one day and said “You’ll never believe it but a man from Hallmark Cards called and said he wanted to meet with you he would like you to go to work for them.” I said “that’s nice mom but I have 2 1/2 more years on my contract, you told me I would never be able to do that anyway.” My dad said my mom got off the phone and cried, what she did’nt know and still does not to this day is so did I. I thought my dream was dashed with a few simple and seemingly innocent words, about 4 years later I was at a business convention and the speaker said something very powerful that has stuck with me since, “DON’T LET ANYBODY STEAL YOUR DREAM” Your dreams are unique to you and no one knows what you able to achieve. I have found out that those who call you friend are not always your friend and will do and say negative things to you to steal your dreams away from you and I really think it is because they really don’t want you to do any better than they do, they did’nt achieve their dreams and their dreams are gone into the far reaches of their memory. I have never and I mean never stopped dreaming, my dream has alway’s been to be an artist, I have never let anyone as hard as some have tried and still try today “LET ANYONE STEAL MY DREAM” that is what I do today, I am an artist, It’s not about money or fame it’s about me achieveing what I wanted to do since I was 7. as a parent my children have been told that Dream, Believe and you will Achieve, the title to a book I read many years ago and I have also told them “don’t let anyone steal your dream” I can’t say it enough. The tears that fall from my eyes as I write is not for me but for all those that have let someone else’s seemingly helpful words get in the way of their dreams.

God Bless,Randy Pausch and his family and thanks Michelle

‘Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It’s too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital’ he continued. ‘Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.’ And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a ‘thousand marbles.’

‘You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic.. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.’
‘Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I’m getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail’, he went on, ‘and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.’
‘Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.’
‘There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.’

Thanks Michelle for helping us think about keeping our priorities in order.