The Last Lecture

On vacation to Vegas, I had this book that I borrowed from my grandma, The Last Lecture. I thought I will bring it along and read a little bit here and there when I get the chance, but from the moment I read the first page, I literally could not put this book down. You are hooked to this man’s story, and want to read more.

It was one of the few times that I finished a book in one day. Most people probably think that it is more of a sad story , because he is a man living his last days with pancreatic cancer. As you read through you realize that it is a sad story, but you feel inspired by him, because he is so upbeat and optimistic. You can’t help but feel happy for him that he accomplished his childhood dreams and inspired to do the same. When you read something really great, your first instinct is to share it with someone. So I did.

I told Patrick that he needed to read it and He did. He also could not put it down and read it within a couple of hours. It is funny, because as I read this book, Randy Pausch reminded me of Patrick and that is why I thought Patrick would enjoy the book. When Patrick completed the book, he talked about some of his childhood dreams, which were similar to the author’s dreams. But we also talked about our hopes and dreams for our family.

I was really blown away with Randy Pausch’s philosophy regarding family and things. An example of this from his book was when his wife had hit one car that was parked in the driveway with the other car when she was backing out of the garage, and she was dreading telling him. So she planned a dinner that she knew was his favorite. As they were eating this great meal, she could not hold back any longer, she told him what had happened and to her surprise he said that’s okay let’s finish our dinner, then she said after dinner I will call around and get an estimate to get them fixed. And again to her surprise, he said that if they are working and running why fix them. To fix them would only be for cosmetic reasons, and that is how he was raised.

Randy says in the book, that his parents only bought them new clothes if the ones they had no longer fit. They were not cheap people. They just did not believe in excess, which is a good lesson in itself. His parents were selfless people and taught him this lesson as well as many more. That is why he wanted to write this book in the first place, to teach his children the life lessons he learned.

He has his own website and blog, where he keeps everyone up-to-date about his health and his family here. You can also watch his last lecture on you tube.