Thank you.

That is about as concise as one can be in showing someone appreciation for contributing to their lives.

Recently, one of my professors at UMass Amherst, David Dillon, passed away. Prof. Dillon was a great writer, a great teacher, but most importantly a great person and a great mind. He taught me things that I will carry with me until my time is up. He taught me how to be concise. How to get straight to the point. How to see things differently and analyse them critically. However, I wish I had put some of these lessons to use when I had the chance.

See, before Prof. Dillon passed away, I had received a couple emails from him. He emailed our entire Jr. Yr. writing class with feedback on our final projects and to let us know that we were a 'good group.' After receiving several emails in the last few weeks, I wanted to email Prof. Dillon and let him know how thankful I was for having him as professor. I started writing an email one day and I think the Internet had crashed, so I just put it to the side. I figured I'd just email him 'tomorrow.' Tomorrow came, and it slipped my mind. Tomorrow came again and it slipped my mind, again. Needless to say, I never got to it.

When I received an email with his name as the 'Subject' I knew it was bad news... The first thing I thought was, "He didn't pass away!?" Sure enough, I opened the email, only to learn that one of the best professors I've had was gone. I didn't know what to feel. I had only known this man for less than 6 months, but from the first time I met him, I felt an intellectual connection and I knew I would learn a lot from this man and when I got the news, I felt that I wasn't done learning from him yet... I was upset that future students wouldn't have the luxury to have such a great professor, at the same time, I was glad and thankful for the opportunity that I had. But did he know that?

To be honest, I do not know. I hope he did. I expressed to him in person that I was thankful... But I wanted to use the tools he gave me to express how I thankful I truly was. But I didn't. I never got to it. I thought I would have tomorrow...

I thought about this for a long time. How simple it would have been to send a quick email. And how not being able to express how I felt, felt. It sucks. So I wanted to share this story with you all. Now to sum this up and get straight to the point, David Dillon style....

If you want to say Thank You to someone, do it now, because you are never guaranteed tomorrow.

Professor Dillon, Thank You.

You will truly be missed. The world had lost a great mind, but thanks to you, it has gained many more.

Check out this article I came across on artandseek.net