Talk about facing things with grace and courage. The prof has terminal pancreatic cancer and gave his last lecture on that.
“It’s more that “I am in phenomenally good health right now; it’s the greatest cognitive dissonance you will ever see — the fact is, I’m in better shape than most of you,” he said.
And then, to the appreciative laughs and applause of his audience, Dr. Pausch dropped to the stage floor and did a set of pushups.
“So anyone who wants to cry or pity me can come down here and do a few of those, and then you may pity me,” he said.
“What we’re not going to talk about today,” he continued, “is cancer, because I’ve spent a lot of time talking about that … and we’re not going to talk about things that are even more important, like my wife and [three preschool] kids, because I’m good, but I’m not good enough to talk about that without tearing up.”
What he was there to discuss was how to fulfill your childhood dreams, and the lessons he had learned on his life’s journey.”
http://post-gazette.com/pg/07262/818671-298.stm