the best of times, the worst of times

I came across the story of Prof Randy Pausch through the 37 Days blog. Randy has terminal cancer (pancreatic, just like my Dad's). You can see his recent scans and read a bit more about his current condition, if you're interested. In his own words:

In August of 2007, we learned that the cancer had returned, having metastasized to my liver and spleen, which is a death sentence. At that time, the doctors gave me an estimate of having 3-6 months of healthy living left.

I love how he replied to the question of whether his battle with cancer has strengthened or diminished his belief in God:

This is obviously not how I wanted things to turn out, but my wife and I have no regrets; we did everything I could to maximize my odds. And we want to thank everyone who has so graciously helped us. Somewhere during my treatment, somebody asked me if having cancer had made me believe less, or more, in God. I replied that I didn't know, but it sure had made me believe more in people.

Randy recently spoke in the "Last Lecture" series. If you have a minute, I think you'll find these excerpts from his words to be inspiring. You can also read a summary of the entire lecture here....and can I just add that I'm intending to give my kids some license on bedroom graffitti from now on....