[WinPartners] Re: Leaving IS and thanks...

[Kerem B Limon]

Folks--

At the risk of further cluttering your mailbox, I wanted to take the 
opportunity and very briefly thank you all for the avalanche of responses 
to my recent good-bye note and all the kind words and offers of assistance 
accompanying them. When I stopped by the office today, more of you came by 
to thank me for what I wrote. Personally, this has been a very touching 
experience, really. Thank you.

Some of you may be aware that this morning the ugly face of terrorism 
struck once again--incredibly for the second time in so few days--at the 
heart of Istanbul, the city where I was born, in which I grew up and lived 
until I came to MIT ten years ago; a place with many fond memories and good 
old friends. And yet there are reports of more, continued violence in Iraq 
today. It is at times like this, faced with ultimate acts of senselessness 
that can indiscriminantly snuff out otherwise ordinary, unsuspecting lives 
that I realize once again how lucky some of us are to be alive and well.

Events like this almost inevitably make one think of his/her own mortality. 
That brought back a reminder of something a friend, someone I consider wise 
beyond his years, said to me a long time ago. He once asked me what my 
definition of success in life was. At the time, I recalled many a grand 
plans and lofty goals I had for the future, and the accomplishments they 
would bring when realized. He smiled and replied that he'd found all that 
really mattered were two things--whether you had *really* tried--I mean, 
tried hard and long, with all the will and strength you could muster to 
realize what it was you wanted to do in life--regardless of whether you got 
there or not; and, what people would say about you, were you to depart from 
this Earth this very instant by some cruel twist of events, especially 
something senseless. I now better understand what he meant, and am 
flattered to see that at least I've got half of it right (and I'm working 
hard on the rest!).

Once again, thanks for your kind thoughts; they count for extra on an 
especially somber day like today.

Best regards,
Kerem B. Limon