A Tribute To A Masterpiece: Sheryl Sandberg’s Eulogy To Her Husband
Wrote it 4 years ago; can’t shake it off.
This is a heartfelt piece for share with like-minded folks who felt the same way I did. Nothing more, nothing less. Given the focus is on her, I did not feel comfortable sharing this immediately after her loss. So, this 3 month delayed tribute [revisited again after 4 years]
As a writer of words, call me a blogger — certain things move me as a human, certain things touch me and certain combination of words bring the awe and outpouring of emotion simultaneously. That is rare as a blue moon. When that happens I remember where I am. Do you remember where and when you first heard Steve Jobs commencement address to Stanford students? I remember where I was when I heard “Stay hungry. Stay foolish” for the first time.
I remember where I was and how I felt when I read “the world is better for the years my beloved husband lived” for the first time. I was moved beyond comprehension, touched by her words, mesmerized by her resoluteness to shed positive light.
In my very first blog (on LinkedIn), I had wanted to probe the question — what is success and invariably landed on “what would you like your tombstone to say?” I can safely say, her husband would have been a swell of happy man, to hear the choice of words that she shared with the world.
Your influence matters not when you are around but when you are invisible.
If the positivity of the impact in the words is any indication then he was a swell of a influence on her and her life. 11 years could have been a breeze, but they seem to be the best breeze of her life — to be cherished, to propel, to inspire and to share.
I do not know her or her late husband. I know of her. I look at her from the vantage point of a father of two daughters and the world she is shaping for them in the corporate world. Am I interested in what she has to say? Absolutely.
My friend coaches students to write positively. Youngsters and even adults show their negative side even for the smallest perturbations from their expectations. A contrast — I read Sheryl’s words with deeper sense of emotion and heaviness. In her most bleakest moment, she shone like a star- rock solid in composure, resolute in her love, candor in expression and above all, the enduring positivity she projects in her piece. Truly words to lean in. Here is a masterpiece that should be cherished for taking the tougher road for the choice of words. Inspired by her words, I am deeply, truly, utterly and completely grateful to her for sharing positivity in her heart-wrenching, bittersweet testament.
To write from your soul is a higher calling. To embrace positivity in the deepest moments of loss — you are truly touched by the angels. Lights of hope shone bright through the aura of her pen for the world to see.
For my part, words I am left with, come out haltingly, “Sheryl, how are you doing today?”
Written by a father of two young girls & fellow human
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