At Commencement last year, I had to deliver a message to the stage about an event I didn't fully understand, that had occurred earlier that day in the Swiss Alps. Someone died, but unlike the myriads of people I know who have passed, this person was connected to those I was connected to: a member of their entry and their year-abroad group.
Another '11 blogger said it all better than I ever could, but listening to stories about him tonight is a privilege, and only underscores how I feel about each and ever member of our class. If I could have lunch with a difference person, each day for the rest of the year, I wouldn't come close to meeting everyone. But I want to, and events like those tonight (and the circumstances that brought it about) remind me of the countless gifts we may never access.
Amen.
