how splendid the day has been

Yesterday, Tom Jr., Jenny, Anne, and Nancy came up to Pepperdine to attend the Board of Regent’s meeting. The board passed a resolution acknowledging Tom's more than 15 years of service. Tommy accepted on behalf of his family and, while he made no trucker references, he gave a great speech.

We also spent time with Russ Ray and others on the board. No one has done more than Russ to encourage people to honor Tom at Pepperdine. Bill Banowsky, former president of Pepperdine, talked briefly of how Tom started influencing the board 30 years ago, right down to the way they print the agenda to this day. I think Bill served as a director at Coke for a while and stole some of their good ideas.

I brought my camera into the meeting all set to capture the moment for posterity. I got two pictures—this is the best. I chickened out for fear of ruining the moment (my dad should have been there—he would have walked right up front and done it right). Oh well, at least you can tell they had ample iced tea and coffee on the table. In this photo Tommy is talking about the hours he spent reading Proust in the library as a student.

Jim Wilburn then took the four of us to lunch. There were lots of stories, but for some reason the conversation focused on the dangers of GPS and uncle Tom’s driving skills.

I was sorry Stu had to leave early—she missed the Jon and Jim Nickel Tour of Pepperdine’s new graduate campus. We wrapped up the visit at the Heroes Garden, dedicated to the memory of September 11, 2001.

It was a great day, most of all because we could savor it together. I asked Jim to share a copy of his remarks from the memorial service. You can read the full text here. I hope others will post the text of their remarks. At the service, he spoke about a photo of the two of them in the Kremlin—I’ll see if he can find it and maybe share it here. Jim closes with a great quote, which I like very much:

My mother used to play on the piano after dinner some nights one of her favorite songs, “When You Come to the End of a Perfect Day,” and we have all known some days that we wish would simply not end because they have gone so perfectly. But then, we do not know how perfect they have been until they are complete. And there are lives of deeply spiritual people having a human experience that are so perfectly lived that we can only take their full measure when they are completed. Tom’s life, as much as any I have experienced, was a life so perfectly lived. And, as Sophocles, the Greek poet reminded us three millennia ago, “We must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.”

Thanks Tom, Jenny, Anne and Nancy for a great visit. And thanks Jim, for making it possible to share this together. I know how special Tom was to you.

Jon