Commencement Address Carroll University May 8, 2011 The Ginkgo ...

Our patients and their families constantly teach us that digging deep and trying to help in any
way we possibly can is so important. Here is the letter we recently received from Mrs. L.’s
daughter on Ginkgo leaf imprinted stationery:
To Everyone at TGen,
Thank you so much for all that you did to try and help my mother. She felt so grateful to
have known you all and so sad that her illness progressed so far that there was no new
therapy that could help against her cancer. While she was with you, though, she felt so cared
for and coddled – it was a wonderful experience. My mom passed away peacefully in my
arms and spent her last few days surrounded by all her family in her own home. We all
laughed, cried, prayed, reminisced and loved each other – it was a special time. Thank you
again on behalf of my father and all our family.
Gingko lesson #4: it's important to try. It is about curing, but it is also about caring – for the
autistic child, for elders, for the suffering. An anonymous writer put it best – “to cure sometimes,
to relieve often, to comfort always.”
Graduates please remember:
1. Ginkgo Think – it’s principles and the thinking process
2. Give back
3. Listen to what the individual wants
4. Try to personally help each and every person
I have gotten quite a few things wrong in my life – there have been a lot of Ginkgo lessons! But
in the very beginning, I got one thing right. Like you, I went to Carroll University.
And one more thing. A few days ago, my Mother and Dad gave me a birthday card for my 64 th
birthday and, you guessed it! There was a ginkgo leaf on the card. That card was sent with great
love and many wonderful memories like we have here today. But based on what I have told you
today, the message was clear. "Son, you still have got a lot to learn."
Congratulations, graduates. You are now ready for anything unexpected. Remember Gingko
Think!
Thank you for the honor of giving this Commencement address,
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