TCU Logo

I have to admit that writing these columns relies on some amount of inspiration that is usually based on what’s on my mind and/or in my heart the day it’s due to the editor. Today is no different.

Two events this week have shaped my heart and mind – spending time with a young Venezuelan woman and the death of a longtime friend.

Today I had the good fortune of spending a couple of hours with Estefanía. We’ve become friendly over the past year as she’s worked behind the counter at the donut shop where I buy coffee every day. She is bright, kind and ambitious. Currently enrolled in intensive English at Texas Wesleyan, her goal is to study international business at TCU. Last week we met with Karen Scott in Admission, so she is armed with information about what classes to take when she begins her basics at TCC. She is determined and hard working so I know her future will be bright.

Estefanía’s family escaped the horrible situation in Venezuela, but she has some stories to tell. My “adopted” son, Jacob, escaped from Sudan in 2006 to avoid military service in the Muslim army. Even now that his home country of
South Sudan is independent, it has experienced civil war and brutality since its inception. I am proud of Jacob who is an American citizen and a 2015 TCU graduate. But it isn’t, nor hasn’t been, easy for either of these young people that I admire so much.

On Wednesday, a friend and fellow TCU graduate, died of pancreatic cancer. As is usually the case with this horrible disease, her demise was quick. I had seen her at a board meeting in early December and now she’s dead. Hard to believe.

Evan Davis, English economist, journalist, and presenter for the BBC, said, “It’s not a bad idea to occasionally spend a little time thinking about things you take for granted. Plain everyday things.”

For most of us, I suspect there are any number of things we take for granted: warm homes, clean air and water, education, the beauty around us, our health (good or bad), time,information. You fill in the blank.

Today I’m thinking about freedom and life.