I have had this book on my shelf for a year now. I went out and bought it when I found out that Jeffery Zaslow, the man who would help Randy Pausch put his thoughts onto paper, was coming to homecoming at the chiropractic college I work for. I had heard the story of Randy Pausch and the "last lecture" he gave at Carnegie Mellon before he died from pancreatic cancer. When Zaslow spoke of Randy, he shared what he had learned from Randy and gave us more of an insight to the person Randy Pausch had been. He discussed how he helped Randy put his lecture, his thoughts into words on paper. I was able to meet Zaslow and have him sign the copy of the book I had. It says, "Karlene, I hope Randy's story reminds you of your own childhood dreams." I don't know that his story reminded me of my childhood dreams because I wasn't a huge dreamer, I just knew I didn't want to be a struggling single mom like my own mother. I guess I can say that even though I started out on that road, I have ended up on the road of my childhood dream. I do however, tell my kids to dream big, that whatever they dream, go out and make it yours.
Randy Pausch was an amazing human being even before he was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. He talked about how great his parents were to him and his sister. They were not spoiled kids who got whatever they desired, no they were taught to be appreciative of the things you have right in front of you. He dreamed big. He wanted to work for Disney, he wanted to float in space, he wanted his name in the World Book Encyclopedia. In some form or another, Randy was able to fulfill those big dreams. He talks about taking a sabattical from University of Virginia and working for Disney for 6 months in the Imagineering Department. He didn't get to go to outer space to float but was able to float in the NASA gravity plane. And he was even asked to write something on virtual reality for the World Book Encyclopedia. Randy perservered no matter what he did, if a brick wall went up in front of him, he would find a way to get over it. That is one thing he said that everyone should do.
In this book, Randy told many stories from his childhood to when he gave his lecture. Much of the book he re-told the things he talked about in his one hour lecture. He spoke of how he met his wife Jai and each of his three children, Dylan, Logan, and Chloe and what they all meant to him. How he wanted to leave each of them something that would help them remember him. He did talk of his hurt, the hurt of how he was going to be leaving his family behind but that he was going to make the best of the time he had with them. He made everyone he touched think, think about who they are and what they could accomplish if they dreamed big.
This was a very good memoir and I'd recommend to anyone who has not read it, to take some time and read it. It is a quick read, it will make you laugh and it WILL make you cry. But it will also make you think of who you are. Randy described himself as a Tigger and not an Eeyore. He lived life bouncing and trouncing and having fun, even despite what was lying ahead for him and his family.
Recommended Fiction:
The Tales of Adam by Daniel Quinn--a book of life, nature and humankind.
The Daughters of Joy by Deepak Chopra--a book on passing sacred lessons of love from generation to generation.
Recommended Non-fiction:
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Morrie: In his own words...by Morris Schwartz
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