One Less Thing To Worry About

Today was the in-house departmental memorial for our professor. (See 10-10-12 Post) It was tough. First "funeral" I've been to since my diagnosis. I've wondered more concretely in the past couple years what my funeral would be like. I really hope it's moving as Dr. Peterson's. Chris was the kind of person who not only accomplished a lot, he did the most important thing: deeply impacted the people around him in a very haphazard way. He just stopped by, listened, CARED, and made people laugh. Yes he was incredibly intelligent and accomplished individual, but he was a humble, loving and well-loved individual, which is the part that every person in that room claimed is the part he would be remembered for.  I'm incredibly proud/thankful for my education and accomplishments, but I do consider my relationships to be the best thing about me. The night before my surgery I wasn't afraid at all, because I faced down death KNOWING I was well-loved. Not everyon...

Today the first email I read from work was news that one of our professors passed away yesterday morning. Dr. Chris Peterson, leader in the field of Positive Psychology for the past 25 years, in the top 100 most quoted psychologists in the WORLD, turned on his coffeepot, went to sit on the porch, and collapsed. A neighbor noticed and called for help, by the time it arrived he was gone. We are still waiting to hear what exactly happened. Already our office is filling with students who took his first exam yesterday, Gradstudents who have been mentored by him, colleagues who have worked beside him... Apparently Chris's first lecture for the academic year was a video of another professor who knew they were sick and giving their last lecture. I wonder what his would have been like if he had known. What IS interesting, however, is his last Blog post. Sometimes it's like we subconsciously know before we consciously do. Here is the link: Awesome e-pluribus-unum What makes m...