Yesterday, on July 25, 2008, 47-year-old Randy Pausch died with pancreatic cancer…he’d only learned he had it in September 2006…and by the time of his passing he had inspired millions of people with his attitude. Remember…he was the US computer science professor who gave the “last lecture” (about achieving your childhood dreams) at Carnegie Mellon University last September. (Perhaps like me, you saw it on YouTube after it was posted in December.)

Randy Pausch passed away at his home in Virginia. His wife, Jai, and his 3 children, Dylan, 6, Logan, 4, and Chloe, 2, survive him.

Randy’s notoriety all began with the question: What would you say if you knew you were going to die and had a chance to sum up everything that was most important to you? Yes, by the time he gave that last lecture, Randy had been told he had MAYBE six months to live, so his answer was very powerful indeed! (I showed the lecture to my then 12–year-old and 10-year-old…and even they were inspired!)

We heard Randy say, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just the way we play the hand.”

And, “I don’t know how not to have fun. I’m dying and I’m having fun. And I’m going to keep having fun every day I have left.”

More than anything, even after his death, Randy Pausch said he wants people to live their potential and do great things…and help other people pursue their dreams as well!

And he wants every one of us to live generously, spend more time with loved ones, and be patient with others. As Randy said, “Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you.”

And he wants us to see the brick walls that come before us as opportunities and challenges, not obstacles. “Brick walls are there for a reason,” he said. “They let us prove how badly we want things.”

Knowing he was dying, Randy was sad for his children that he would not be around for them as they grew up. So he spent hours and hours videotaping himself with his kids (and took lots of photos)…swimming with dolphins…at Disney World…so that in the future they would be able to see how they had touched each other’s souls and laughed together! “Kids, more than anything else, need to know their parents love them,” he said. “Their parents don’t have to be alive for that to happen.”

Randy built separate lists of his memories of each child. He also wrote down his advice for them, things like: “If I could only give three words of advice, they would be, ‘Tell the truth.’ If I got three more words, I’d add, ‘All the time.’”

The advice he’s leaving for his daughter, Chloe, includes: “When men are romantically interested in you, it’s really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do.”

And having cancer, Randy had been given the time to have vital conversations with his wife, Jai, that wouldn’t be possible if his fate had been a heart attack or car accident.

Through it all he always thought every day was a gift.

Now take the gift he’s given you….go out and love your day…jump into life…embrace it…live as if you’re dying and die as if you’re living!

Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James