I found out Tuesday that one of my high school teachers had died. Rest in peace, Fred Ficquett. He made geometry fun and was an effective teacher. Years after high school I ran into him in town. I asked if he remembered me. He said "I can't remember your name, but I remember that you were one of the students that made teaching worth while." He was glad to hear he had helped me. He really liked that I had become a surveyor, someone who USES geometry. I saw him many times after that and he always remembered my name and asked how the surveying world was. I didn't know until I read his obituary that he was a "Professional Statistician" and worked for the government during the Vietnam Era. I'd be willing to bet he made a difference wherever he went. I can still see him standing there leading the chant "Side, Angle, Side! Side, Side, Side! Angle, Side, Angle!"
Me. "What's the difference?"
T.C. Carroll "It's the difference between right and wrong!"
Learning of the deaths of our connections to our youth can be tough.?ÿ It reminds us that we are next in line.?ÿ Sort of like when you become the oldest of the oldest surviving generation of your family.?ÿ In my case I am now the youngest of my generation of the oldest surviving generation by six years.
I am down to a short list of people left who were my teachers.?ÿ What was sad was when a music teacher passed away several months ago, everyone I mentioned her death to said, "Who? What years?"?ÿ Makes you wonder who will remember you.
Mom is older than any still-living relative she ever met.
Older than me, there is Mom, one of her brothers, the last of her cousins, and on Dad's side one cousin and one of his cousins.
Then me. Five older relatives is not many for my age of 72.
I'm older than either of my grandfathers achieved, and that fact is scarier than the other facts.
My grandparents made it to an average of 79 years.?ÿ But, Dad was 67 and Mom was 78.?ÿ My cousins are 82, 80, 75 and 75 while my sister just turned 75 last month.?ÿ The youngest one of the cousins died last year at 63 from a heart attack in her sleep.
One of my classmates lost her father yesterday.?ÿ Very few classmates still have one parent alive.?ÿ The only one I knew of with both still going lost her father a few months ago.
?ÿMom died at 49, Dad missed his 92nd birthday by 6 days.?ÿ I'm right in the middle at the moment.
My mother and father both had 6 siblings, both are the last standing.?ÿ 3 of the five references on my PLS application are no longer with us.?ÿ My wife passed away at the age of 39, instantly and only 10 minutes after speaking with her on the phone, I got to find her lifeless on our bedroom floor.?ÿ Several of my good friends have passed and I'm only 57.
Moral of the story, life is short, make it sweet.?ÿ When my wife passed, I was 37 and we had a 2 1/2-year-old daughter that I was left to raise on my own.?ÿ I learned quickly to re-examine my life, no more 70-hour weeks and my life was focused on raising my daughter.?ÿ ?ÿ
got lots to do - life is too short to get it all done but I'll die trying.?ÿ I'm thankful for my earthly role models to include parents, teachers, judges, and friends.