I didn't think there were any more nuggets that I could uncover that would reveal something about my son I didn't already know; but sometimes, God sends you a nugget.
We had found a 'book' Ian made in high school called "The First 3,000 lives of Ian M Hassett"; rather ironic, wouldn't you say? In it, on the inside cover was this page.....
Yesterday, I was watching a commencements speech by an actor and he quoted Samuel Beckett,
"Ever tried. Ever Failed. No Matter. Try Again.
Fail Again. Fail Better"
It got me thinking.....could this be where Ian got his quote from, just a truncation of Beckett's words?
So, as any self-respecting momma looking for more clues into who her son was, I went Facebook stalking for Joshua Rivas. I probably shouldn't admit this but I've gotten rather good at this type of thing and found him. He was living just a short distance away, attending college nearby. With some trepidation, I messaged him and what-do-you-know? He messaged me back.
We had a very nice conversation at 1am in the morning cuz isn't that when most college students have conversations? He wasn't a close friend of Ian's but he remembered him; mostly he remembered "he produced a happy aura around everybody." That was our Ian, that's how most people remember him; kind and friendly and producing happy auras.
It turned out, this was a quote Josh put on his MySpace to help him deal with a lack of self-confidence at the time. I shared with him how something so small, just a quote on his social media page, had had a ripple affect and not just on Ian. We used this quote on a small plaque that we put on Ian's violin case before we donated it to his music teacher. She would in turn, loan out Ian's violin to students who couldn't afford to buy or rent one. That little violin has been in the hands of three students so far and each has seen this quote. Who knows, maybe it will impact them like it did Ian; maybe it will encourage them to continue to 'fail again, fail better'?
Sometimes it's the small things we do or say that can have the biggest impact on the people around us.
Thanks for the nugget God - it's much appreciated.
