Teachers who are passionate, enthusiastic and inspire others not just to learn, but to want to learn have always garnered my highest respect. The late Randy Pausch, pioneer of virtual reality technologies, was a Professor at Carnegie Mellon university. Upon being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer he decided to use his remaining time to foster a message of hope and to influence others to live well – and in doing so not only follow their dreams, but to facilitate the dreams of others – the mark of a true teacher.

His famous ‘Last Lecture‘ is a treatise on how positive thinking and positive action will lead to success. Many of the key elements of his message resonated with me.

• Pausch used the concept of a brick wall as something that you have to get over in order to demonstrate just how badly you want something – those things that are hardest to attain are those that are worth fighting for the most
• That what goes around comes around – loyalty is a two way street, and believing in others, supporting them and nurturing them is in itself a reward
• That collaboration is fostered and facilitated by environments that support inter-disciplinary approaches – that bend rules and blur boundaries so that those with interests and passions – albeit in different fields can come together to create something positive.

His lecture on Time Management, also delivered after a terminal diagnosis is equally inspiring.

In a way it’s almost paradoxical that in losing Randy Pausch the world has lost someone so inspirational, so intelligent and so passionate, however without having a terminal illness his message of continually aspiring to achieve your goals would have reached a far smaller audience.

Juliette Reinders-Folmer, a colleague of mine from PHPWomen, is currently involved in a project which is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at once. It’s the ‘Remember me when I’m gone’ project – which provides parents who know that they will die while their children are young an opportunity to record a memory book. The memory book helps children foster a sense of identity after losing a parent, through being able to understand the messages and images left to them.

From their website;

Request for your help from the Remember me when I’m gone project

The Remember me when I’m gone project is a world-wide, no-budget, non-profit initiative which aims to inspire, motivate and help parents who expect to die before their child(ren) have grown up, to make a memory book about their own life for their child / each of their children.

Though the concept of memory books is valid in all situations where the early death of a parent is imminent, memory books have so far mainly been used in AIDS-related projects where the concept has more than proven its worth.

The Remember me when I’m gone project opens up access to the memory book concept to all by providing a generic Memory Book template through the website www.remembermewhenimgone.org. We realize there are numerous projects in the field which already work with memory books, however with this project we hope to fill the gap for people who are not in these projects.

This template can be downloaded free of charge and is currently available in over a 100 languages. Distribution of the template is freely allowed providing the document is distributed as is and without charge.

As a follow up from the artice where I complained about a Woolworths Wish Gift Card that had expired, there is some good news!

This is the response from Woolworths Wish Gift Card customer service;

Dear Kathy,

I am writing in response to the correspondence you submitted via the
WISH Gift Card website on Friday 01st August 2008, in regards to the
funds on your expired Gift Card.

Please note that all WISH Gift Cards expire 12 months from the date of
purchase. This is stated in the terms and conditions printed both on the
back of your Card and on the cardboard carrier which the Cards are
attached to. Full terms and conditions are available from
WISHgiftcard.com.au

As a gesture of good will I have reactivated your Gift Card. The new
expiry date is 04th September 2008.

Please ensure that you use your Card prior to the new expiry date as no
further extensions will be offered.

Regards
[name removed for privacy]
Group Financial Services

Well, this is a partially positive outcome – at least now I get access to the funds that were still left on the card. But this doesn’t address the bigger issues of;

Gift cards expiring after a period of time (in this case 12 months). The value of money over time – or net present value – means that a gift card actually depreciates in value as soon as it’s bought. After 12 months, a $100 card will really only give you $95 worth of purchasing power. Sure, this doesn’t seem like a lot of money for one card, but multiply this by hundreds of thousands of Wish Gift Cards issued annually and the value soon starts to add up – in favour of Woolworths!

Card not showing the expiry date. In my case, the assistant who issued the card did not print the expiry date on the card – so how was I know it was to expire?

My advice – if you get a gift card, use it as soon as you can – and if you can avoid Wish Gift Cards, do so!