A very good friend of mine died Monday. His name was Jeff Lunsford, a doctoral student at NIU. I met Jeff last year when he was president of the Black Graduate Student Association. Saturday night, an aneurysm exploded in his brain, and Monday, his life support system was turned off when no sign of brain activity existed.

Many NIU students knew Jeff. He was the type of guy who knew that education could take a man very far in life, and he attributed all his success to God. He took no credit for being so bright, but he said as soon as he got his doctorate, he was going to get personalized license plates that read “3 DEGREES.” He was funny and anyone who spent time with him came to know that almost immediately. You just couldn’t resist him when he made you smile. Jeff was a charmer and the ladies loved him.

I was telling some of the members of the old BSU crowd from last year we all really needed to get together like we used to, just venting our frustrations and partying. Somehow, it made survival at NIU a little bit easier, and we all were closer as a result. Now it seems as though life has become too busy for us to take time to get together, and only in grief do we get a chance to see the old crowd again.

The point is we all must try to take time out for the things that make us happy, the things that make us individuals and the things that make us grow. Friendship is one of those things. Life should never get too busy that you can’t call people to see how their lives are treating them.

As students and professionals, we all must realize something my mother told me yesterday—”You cannot get through life alive.” No matter how far you go in life, no matter how many degrees you possess, you can go the minute God wants to take you. There is no rain check for death.

So, when we are taking our finals, or worrying about how to save the world in a day, we must realize it can’t happen all at once. If you have a failure or a loss, you must regroup yourself in the best way that you can. We cannot live in the past, or the future can run away from you.

We are arranging a memorial service for Jeff at the Wesley Foundation and establishing a memorial fund to send to his parents in Pennsylvania to help during this time of unexpected grief. Please direct all inquiries and contributions to the Jeff Lunsford Memorial Fund in care of the Center for Black Studies.

Goodbye, baby, we’ll never forget you and we’ll always love you.

Tracy Lynn Deis

Junior

English/Black Studies