I woke up this morning to very sad news - Lamar McClinton, a former Resident Director at Newbury College, passed away unexpectedly. Only in his 20's, he was taken far too soon in yet another cruel reminder that tomorrow is promised to no one. I didn't have the pleasure of knowing Lamar well as I was in my last semester when he first came to campus, but the outpouring of love/stories that have surfaced since the news goes to show that his impact on those around him was very positive.
Death always brings a lot of thoughts to my mind: I flash back to 17, when I went to the wake for my Driver's Ed teacher, Mr. Wilkin. I only got to know him for a month or two, but I have no doubt I had one of the best Driver's Ed teachers I could have possibly have asked for. He wanted to know what our passions/goals were. He used to have us drive to places for lunch, pay for our meal and tell us stories, painting vivid pictures of his life with his words. We even went to his house where he showed us around and told us about his family. He could have just gone through the motions, gave us our lesson and sent us on our way, but he decided to make our Driver's Ed class about so much more.
I had attended wakes/funerals before, but this one was very different. The line to pay respects to him was out the door, and the wait was somewhere around 30-35 minutes. As I sat in line for a man that I spent all of a month or two with, I was so impressed to hear all the different stories people were swapping about the man I knew so little about: Funny stories, inspiring stories, people sharing facts that no one else knew - it was easily the least stressful wait in line I've ever been in. At the end, there was a list of 21 rules to living your life that Mr. Wilkin wanted everyone to have upon his passing - I still have that piece of paper to this day, and have no doubt in my mind he lived by those rules.
I knew at that point that I wanted to be remembered/impact lives the way he did, although I had no idea how I would do it. Dave Hildebrandt at Newbury was a pivotal figure in helping me find my passion and pushing me to be my best every day. Like Lamar, he was taken too soon from us at the age of 29. I don't want to go too much into detail in this blog - you can read up on Dave's impact on me here, here, or here. Passings of this nature can have a double impact: They make us think about the impact the person had on us, as well as make us realize that tomorrow is promised to no one, no matter how young they may be. I am sure like I did 5 years ago, many people today are thinking about what they're doing currently and if it aligns with what they want their legacy to be.
If you knew you only had 6 months left to live, what would you do with it? How would you change what you're doing now? Are there people that you would reach out to and say something you've been holding in up to this point? Vince Lombardi said a quote on his deathbed that resonates with me every day. "I'm not afraid to die, it's just that I had so much left to do in this world" - when it's my time to go, I'll be ready - I just want to make sure I make the most of my time here.
When people pass, they may no longer be here physically, but memories with them and lessons taught live on - I take Dave and his positive impact on me and share them with as many people as possible. I have no doubt others will do the same with Lamar. For the short term, take this opportunity to do something you've been meaning to do but just haven't gotten around to it. Call someone you haven't talked to for awhile and catch up - tell them you Love them, or perhaps call someone whose bridge you may have burned (or vice versa) and start rebuilding it. Do something for a complete stranger just for the sake of doing it. Do something for YOURSELF that you haven't taken the time to do because you've just been too busy.
Every day, we have the ability to make the world a little better than we found it that morning, even if it's just making one person smile. My thoughts are with Lamar's family and friends, as well as the Newbury Community. Rest in Peace sir - take comfort in knowing while you were taken too soon, it's evident that you left people better than you found them, and that will live on with those people everywhere they go.
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