Jonas lived in a community designed by the Elder’s as an effort to live a life of utopia. Jonas grew up not knowing who his actual birth parents were, in his community married couples submitted an application to have children. Once the community children turned one-year old they are handpicked by the Elders and then given to a selected family. His family were like most families in the community, his father was a Nurturer and his mother worked in the Department of Justice. When Jonas was twelve years old, he attended the Ceremony …show more content…
He was married to a loving, supportive wife Jai and had three children. His desire was to share his knowledge and wisdom, passing it on to his students. Randy was goal oriented, determined and successful. He too was a man of intelligence, integrity, and courage. He had a wonderful childhood, when talking about his parents he stated he won the parent lottery. Randy’s father was a medic in World War II and his mother was an English teacher. His parents had a love for education and they instilled the love of learning in Randy at an early age. Randy focused on the importance of life, like having childhood dreams, the influence of good parents, and living a simple life. Randy’s family and friends played a major role in his life. Randy loved football, his high school football coach Jim Graham, impacted his life in a major way. Coach Graham taught Randy many lessons in life. One lesson Randy speaks of has stuck with him his whole life was “When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you” (Pausch, 2008, p. 36) Randy had many opportunities in life, and he took advantage of every one of them. From working for Walt Disney, meeting Mr. Spock, to writing a book about his last lecture. At the age of 47, Randy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was given an opportunity to provide a lecture, one he considered to be his last lecture. He was able to use this lecture as a way to inspire others in reaching their goals and as a legacy for his three children. His father told him kids “need to know their parents love them. Their parents don’t have to be alive for that to happen” (Pausch, 2008, p. 26). Randy fulfilled his calling in life and his legacy will live