Ray Mabus at the 2014 UVA Commencement:“And finally, I hope that you will do something that you will not see the results of, maybe ever. My father…was a tree farmer, in Ackerman, MI. My dad died when he was 85 years old, after a great life. In the last year of that life, he didn’t cut a single tree, but he planted thousands.
“He knew for an absolute fact that he would never see any money from those trees. He knew for an absolute fact that he would never see them grow and mature, that he would never get one bit of benefit from them. But he did it anyway.
“He did it as a matter of hope. He did it as a matter of faith. He did it for me, his granddaughters that he never met, and he did it for the generations in my family that will never know him and that he will never know.
“Cherish your day. Cherish your graduation; you�ve earned it. But when this day is over, you need to go out and earn some other things, earn things that will be cherished long after this day is gone and long after we are all gone. It’s your turn, your life. Tomorrow � ask yourself, what trees am I going to plant?” (17:03 to 19:01)
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