Reflections on Mr. Medeiros

At a time when we are all busy with exams, papers, and the stresses of life, we request a moment of peace, a moment of silence, or at least a moment of reflection. Last year, on March 7th we lost a dear and beloved friend, David Medeiros, to cancer.

David, a native of Massachusetts, grew up in Medfield. He came from a lineage of teachers, including his mother who is a second grade teacher in the Medfield Public Schools, and he desired to follow the same path as the generations before him. His thirst for learning, challenge, strong work ethic, and high intelligence gained him acceptance to many prestigious schools around the country. But his love, devotion, and a need to be close to his family gave Tufts the privilege of having David as one of its outstanding students.

David was blessed with a warm and caring family and had a relationship with them based on honesty, love, and trust that many of us could easily envy. When David was close to death, his mother would stay up at night with him and they would talk about the people David had met, the challenges he faced, and the beauty he saw and experienced during his all too short lifetime.

David was blessed with the gift of having a strong love and protection of children. His gentle, kind nature led him in the direction of being a Child Development major and worker at daycares in the Medford area. Besides teaching and caring for other's children, he dreamed of having children of his own; although life did not permit him the time.

David's love for family and children also extended to love for his friends. David was a gentleman, who always made the people around him feel comfortable. He treated everyone with the utmost respect and his needs always came second to theirs. Last year, David had promised two of his best friends that he would teach them how to bake a special type of cookie. However, he became very ill and was hospitalized before he could do so. After his brief recovery, and while still very sick, he sent these two best friends a batch of cookies, the recipe, and an apology for not being able to teach them himself. Last Valentine's Day, David insisted on going out to buy a Valentine's card for a dear friend even though he was unable to get out of bed.

David was blessed with a mind-set that he wanted to make the world a better place. In the final year of his life, David did lectures at Massachusetts medical schools on how doctors needed to improve bedside manner with their patients. Tapes of these lectures were made and are viewed by medical students today, making these students better and more caring doctors of tomorrow.

Being part of the privileged group of David's close friends, we can imagine where David would be if he were alive today. To us he would have spent his past weekend writing a paper for child development, directing a play, working at Elliot Pearson, and hanging out with us in Boston. We know he would be looking forward to graduation, it being his senior year, and inevitably wherever life might take him. But in reality we can remember his strength, talent, and love of life because, what David loved more than anything else, was the gift of living.

So while we are busy with work, difficult relationships, and stress, we ask you to take a moment to think about how lucky we all were to be blessed by the presence of David Medeiros and have our own gift of life. And in the words of Thornton Wilder, "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?" If the twenty-year-old, Mr. Medeiros was given the opportunity to answer he would firmly say, "Yes."

Aditi Gupta is a senior majoring in Psychology. Kristin Leahey (LA '02) is a graduate student at Northwestern University.