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Dear
Emma for your gradutation ceremony March 5th 2016
Masters degree in Public health in developing
countries
University of London
London school of hygiene and tropical medicine
I have spent the last days trying to figure out something beautiful
enough to write to you '.. to somehow reflect the pride .. and
affection .. and love that I feel for the privelage I have been
given of being your father. This is neither the first nor the last
milestone in your lifes journey … But it is a milestone … and it is
a mile marker on a road that not everyone has the privelage of
passing.
It is not the knowledge implied by your masters degree that
impresses me --- it is the will and purpose I have seen in you to
attain it. The drive within you that has removed the obstacles and
ignored the negatives … so that this dream in your heart could come
true. These things are never automatic just because we wish for them
to be.
I am proud of one specific attribute in you Emma, and in our other
children .. and that is the burning will to fight for, and support
basic moral principles arround us -- justice .. truth …
equality … empathy and the inner will and purpose within you to
support the less fortunate in our world ..
However there is another side to this coin that I want to remind you
of in your endevours for fullfillment and happiness in the future. Perhaps
lifes greatest challenge is wisdom in chosing the issues to
emotionally involve yourself with, .. and on the other hand identifying the
lesser concerns you may
believe in and that are noble, but are not worth the primary focus
for your day.
When I was young, the
Beatles both rose and then faded. They sang a song that has gained
significance for me as I have become older. I would like to share it
with you Emma – It underlines the other side of the moral paradox of
firmly
standing for what is true and right, yet saving your strength
and zeal for the real issues that have the potential to fill the moral
gaps in life and in the environment we live in. Emma don't
spread yourself too thin in the many concerns we may have for our wonderful world!
I can hear my mom, when trivial injustices sometimes inflamed my mind
as I was growing up ...as I listen to this song …..
”Let it be!”...
by
Paul McCartney
Your mom and dad
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