For my Father.
By Molly McGuire
People never know what to say when something like this happens. They feed you all of the generic and somewhat true euphemisms about loss. None of it is adequate. They have plenty of sympathy but no answers. And the questions are so numerous. If you let them they could take over your whole life.

My father though... He knew how to handle almost everything that was thrown his way. He knew how to raise three crazy kids. How to love his wife. How to treat your friends. How to light up the lives around him. And he knew we would need answers.

The following was found among his possessions at Neenan.

What Will Matter
By Michael Josephson.
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.

My questions were silenced as I took in the lesson he left behind. My Father led a life that mattered. I can see it by all the love and pain in this room. He left behind a worth wile legacy. Follow it. Embrace your life with recklessness. My father taught me that caution has it's place, and it does not belong in every decision that you make. Please do not dwell on this tragedy. Go, live a life that matters.