Rod Baird's Eulogy

Its possible that y'all are getting tired of me posting about Mr. Baird.

If that is the case, allow me to direct you to the X or the red dot in the upper right-hand corner of you screen.
No one's forcing you to read this.

That being said, this is possibly--but no promises--the last post completly about him.

This was written by Tara Baird.

Good Morning. Welcome and thank you for joining me today in honoring the memory of Roderick Baird.
For those of you whom I have not yet had the privilege of meeting, I am Rod’s middle daughter, Tara. My father may have referred to me as the pediatric nurse who lives in Utah.
Looking around this room, I am moved to see how many lives have been touched by my father. Yet to anyone who knew him well, this profound influence to so many comes as no big surprise.
Although tempting, I’ve decided not to stand before you and rattle off the long list of achievements my father accumulated during his life. Instead, I want to talk about who he was, which was far greater than what could ever be captured by a conventional resume of accomplishments.

It was his inner strength, insatiable curiosity, unwavering integrity, and most of all, his deep love and commitment to family and friends that defined his greatness.
This devotion to family was most evident in his union with my mother, Nancy. Their partnership was one for the ages, nearly defining the word. They were teammates with the shared goal of raising a loving family and conquering the unknown together, all the while, completely trusting in the other to have their best interests at heart.

Yet balanced with my father’s greatness was a profound humility. Upon diagnosis of this insidious illness, his response was not the typical why me? But instead, Why not me?
His love and lifelong study of literature helped craft his unique perspective of the world. Ever the philosopher, Rod approached each day as encouraged by one of his favorite characters, Vladimir from Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” to “Let us do something, while we have the chance!”
He strived to teach all of us to do the same. While a teacher by vocation only during the last decade or so of his life, in reality he was a mentor to many here in this room and here in spirit for much longer than that.
His amazing ability to challenge our self-imposed limits, tell engaging stories, and above all, share his intense passion for life, always left us wanting more. He inspired us all to “do something while we had the chance.”

Yet, it was his final lesson that may have been his greatest. He taught us how to overcome fear and uncertainty with dignity and grace.
“I do not want to go gentle into that good night. I want to rage against the dying of the light.”
It was with this last lesson that Rod Baird cast off, trusting us to use what we’ve learned to forge our own paths.

If there was anything that defined my father, it was his devout belief, that each and every one of us, possesses our own distinct greatness to share with the world.