Pausch, an active member of the community, co-founded the university's Entertainment Technology Center and directed the development of Alice, free software that teaches high school and college students about computer programming. He was diagnosed last year with pancreatic cancer, giving him an average five-year survival rate of just 4 percent.
At the time, his wife, Jai, was caring for their infant daughter, Chloe, who is now 1 year old. They have two sons, Logan and Dylan, ages 3 and 5.
Doctors removed Pausch's gallbladder, portions of his stomach and pancreas and several feet of his small intestine to increase his survival odds to 15 percent. He enrolled in an experimental treatment offered in Houston that combined chemotherapy with radiation, boosting the five-year odds to 45 percent.
He developed a Web site to inform people about his progress, and on Aug. 26 posted a bittersweet message: Although he felt the best he had in months and was able to play rigorously with his children, the grueling treatments didn't kill the cancer. Doctors believe he has three to six months to live.
"We cried for a few minutes, then said, 'OK, what's the best game plan from here?' " Pausch said.
His wife's family lives in Norfolk, Va., so they spent the past several weeks moving there. Dylan recently started kindergarten.
Beloved Professor delivers "Last Lecture" http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=5788
They had come to see him give what was billed as his "last lecture." This is a common title for talks on college campuses today. Schools such as Stanford and the University of Alabama have mounted "Last Lecture Series," in which top professors are asked to think deeply about what matters to them and to give hypothetical final talks. For the audience, the question to be mulled is this: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?
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At Carnegie Mellon, however, Dr. Pausch's speech was more than just an academic exercise. The 46-year-old father of three has pancreatic cancer and expects to live for just a few months. His lecture, using images on a giant screen, turned out to be a rollicking and riveting journey through the lessons of his life.
He began by showing his CT scans, revealing 10 tumors on his liver. But after that, he talked about living. If anyone expected him to be morose, he said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you." He then dropped to the floor and did one-handed push ups.
Some of his advice:
"Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things."
He encouraged us to be patient with others. "Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you." After showing photos of his childhood bedroom, decorated with mathematical notations he'd drawn on the walls, he said: "If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it."
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Dr. Pausch's speech was taped so his children, ages 5, 2 and 1, can watch it when they're older. His last words in his last lecture were simple: "This was for my kids." Then those of us in the audience rose for one last standing ovation
He is concentrating now on creating videos for his children. With his oldest son, 5-year-old Dylan, Dr. Pausch went on a recent trip to Disney World and to swim with dolphins, thinking Dylan may be the only child who will have strong direct memories of him.
His wife and children, he said, "mean everything to me. They give a purpose to life and a depth of joy that no job [and I've had some of the most awesome jobs in the world] can begin to provide.
"I hope my wife is able to remarry down the line. And I hope they will remember me as a man who loved them, and did everything he could for them."
To see some of his speech, click below...or just cut and paste it. Jim Kelly sent me this link...it is really good!!
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=5788
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