I’m in New Orleans.  This is arguably one of the funnest cities on earth (or so I’m told, this is my first time here).  But despite the crazy night life and all the energy outside, I type this blog post sitting in a dark hotel room with a stiff drink in my hand.  I’m not in the mood to venture outside right now.  The vodka tonic helps blur a reality I keep avoiding.

Just a few short hours ago, while sitting in one of the sessions at the SpringOne 2GX event, I received an email from one of my oldest and dearest friends.  His mother, Martha Speck, lost her battle with cancer.  A battle that began a mere two weeks ago and frankly, a battle that I didn’t even know was being fought until today.  While reading his message, I found myself trying not to break down in tears in front of 50 of my peers in the session.  And my emotional response came as somewhat of a surprise to me because it had been a number of years since I’ve spoken to Mrs. Speck.  But when someone touches your heart and life, time is irrelevant.

Do you have a teacher that you identify as the one person who really inspired you?  I do.  It was Mrs. Speck.  She was my English and Creative Writing teacher in high school.  Anyone who had Mrs. Speck for Creative Writing at Liberty High School knows what an incredible teacher she was.  Steve and I actually had her class together at the same time.  I’m sure that must’ve been a bit strange for her.  Can you imagine?  Her son and her son’s best friend sitting in the back of the classroom thinking they could get away with murder.   Oh and we tried!  We were young and stupid and tried to take advantage of the situation with all sorts of crazy nonsense.  But she handled our antics with the perfect blend of class, humor and discipline.  We got away with more than we probably should have, but not nearly as much as we wanted to!  And somehow, through it all, I came out of her class with a passion for writing … something I certainly didn’t have going in to her class.  She exposed and cultivated a latent passion within me and therefore she, in no small way, had a hand in shaping my future.  If you think about it, this very blog is the result of her inspirational teaching.

But her inspirational teaching, in and of itself, wouldn’t make me well up with tears.  You see, Mrs. Speck was once known to me as my “second mom.”   During my high school years, her son Steve and I were the best of friends and we shared most of our free time together.  This, of course, means that I had the fortuitous opportunity to spend a lot of time with Steve’s family.  His mother, father and sister became my second family as I shared countless evenings and weekends with them.   It was a great time in my life filled with so many wonderful memories.

But despite the wonderful memories I have of my time with Steve and his family, right now as I sit here in this dark hotel room, I am overwhelmed with deep sadness and regret.  Deep sadness because an amazing, brilliant woman who played a significant role in shaping my future, and more importantly, a woman who I once called “mom,” is gone.  And I feel deep regret because as my life has taken me all over the world, it has been years since I’ve seen or spoken to her … something I will never be able to rectify.

At the end of the day, I believe the only thing we can hope for (as far as this earthly life is concerned) is to leave the world a little bit better than we found it.  In fact, I believe there is no higher compliment than to simply say, “my life is better because of you.”  This is a compliment I would pay to more than one person in my life for sure, but also to be sure, the list would be extremely short.  So let me say, with a tear on my cheek and with all the sincerity and love in my heart …

Farewell Mrs. Speck.  My life is better because of you.