I too am having difficulty accepting that it’s been 50 years since we walked across the Annie Hogan Byrd stage to receive our diplomas from Dr. Trout. Wow!!
Whatever financial gift we are able to provide to Tusculum this year will certainly be important. However, to me the greater legacy we leave to honor our alma mater are the lives we have lived since we left the campus so many years ago. Lives of service to others and to the communities in which we lived. We do not know the impact we’ve had. I’m reminded of a lesson one of my grandfathers taught me even before I came to Tusculum. I didn’t think much about it then, but it has echoed back to me occasionally. We were fishing in one of the ponds on the farm on which I was reared. The fish weren’t biting and so I began to skip rocks across the pond. My grandfather took one rock and threw it into the pond. He asked that I watch the ripples of water as they rolled across the pond. He then went on to explain that those ripples were like words we said to others; actions we took in the family, school and the community. Those words and actions rippled out and had impact on others. Take care, he said, that your words and your actions have positive impact on others. You, my classmates had a great impact on me, far beyond what you may know, and the life I was able to have. You’ve had that same impact on the lives of countless others across your careers. We can continue to have that impact each and every day.
Thank you classmates for what you have done and what you continue to do. Peace!! Ron May ’68