The Renewable Energy Blog

I know this is off topic. But after seeing a preview of Diane Sawyer’s “The Last Lecture: A Love Story for Your Life” that will air tonight on ABC Wednesday, April 9th, 10pm/9 CST, I couldn’t not respond to it.

It hits home, very close to home. I lost my father to what most likely was pancreatic cancer in 2001. It was diagnosed as metastatic cancer of the liver and they never found out where it spread from. They stopped looking and didn’t do a whole hell of a lot because of my father’s medical history. Being his primary caregiver, I had already seen him through two by-pass heart surgeries and a stroke in the previous 5 years. The irony is the chemicals used in chemotherapy are processed by the liver which was already compromised.

Whether my father would have consented to another surgery, I’ll never know. No one was forthright in telling me that it was most likely fatal, not even the Web sites I visited looking for more information back in 2001. He probably told the doctor not to tell me about his true condition. I know he was tired. But he basically coiled up and formed a ball for the remainder of his three months of life and was too ill to even attend my wedding on June 10. He died nine days later.

If someone had been upfront and told me about his impending death I would have handled things differently. At the time, I figured I had taken care of him through the other three medical crisis, I can do this too. But in the end I could have helped him live his last three months by traveling to visit family and maybe create a bucket list and follow it.

But not give up on life. Enjoy what you have and strive for your dreams.

I would say that’s the message that Randy Pausch, a professor of Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction and Design at Carnegie Mellon University, had in mind when he started lecturing about “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” It’s a lesson we can take and use in our everyday lives, making a difference personally and professionally.

We all have the dream of living life comfortably with the right amount of food, clothing and shelter to keep us healthy and happy. This includes needing the right amount of energy to get everything we need done.

We’re relying on fossil fuels for now, but we need to strive for better, cleaner alternative energy answers. As a species, with all the amazing wonders we’ve created thus far, I can’t help but believe that the answers are within our grasp. If we can just put our heads together and realize that while competition is what fuels our creative juices, cooperation not greed will carry us into the future. We can all achieve our childhood dreams. And abundant energy is the way for us to do that…

But do yourself a favor and watch some of the videos online http://thelastlecture.com/, buy the book and watch the special show tonight.

[amtap book:isbn=1401323251]