Dedicated to and in memory of Adam “Tre” Such III – Though we were not the closest of friends and certainly did not see eye-to-eye a lot of times, I was in constant awe of your strength of will, your intelligence, and your passion. There are few people I’ve met who I imagined having a more significant impact on the world and who I felt confident about the good that would come out of that impact. You were truly the best of us. Author Robert Louis Stevenson insisted, “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.” Reflecting on what I knew and remember about Tre Such, I do not think a single person exemplified this idea more or demonstrated the impact a single life can have more than Tre. From those close to him to those who only knew him briefly, like myself, Tre impacted everyone he met. Whether you were just someone who joked around with him, someone who argued with him, or someone who knew him intimately – you could tell that Tre carried a force of character and will that could not be ignored. He exuded brilliance, a light, which could not be ignored. And regardless of your relationship with him, he let that light shine on everyone, helping some to see solutions to problems and simply warming others. He planted more seeds than anyone could know, and he provided the sunshine for them to grow. Unfortunately though, many people never got the chance to thank him for that light and the world will not have the chance to see Adam Such shine to his full potential; however, we cannot think about what could have been and what is lost. Instead, we must focus on who Tre was and still is to many of us and learn from him.
Adam “Tre” Such was a fighter. He was the best-spoken person in any room. He was the leader of any group. He was the guy who showed up in moccasins and purple furry socks. He was himself – and there was no better person he could have been. Whether or not he realized it, Tre inspired and changed many people through being himself – and not just being himself to a limited degree, but being his one-hundred percent genuine self every moment. And though most of us can only aspire to be as gifted as Tre, we should take his life as an example of the power of being yourself and use that as a lesson.
Further though, Tre’s life reminds us of the importance and frailty of life. Though we wish people like Tre could live forever, all people pass eventually and we must do our best to cherish them while there here. I have known two people that have passed away in the past two weeks -- both under twenty-five years old. As someone who has never dealt with death in his life, this has reminded me that, at any second, life can be gone. It has reminded me that I must live like Tre: I must give one-hundred percent of myself at all times to everything I do. I must make time for those who matter. I must tell the people that are important to me that I care about them. To me, that was the best thing about Tre. He lived as himself and gave all of himself to everything he cared about. He went about life unapologetically as himself, and for that people wanted to be a part of his life and share in his light – a light that is still shining.
Every day, people like Tre can come through your life and make things brighter for a time. When you come across these people, you must thank them for their light – but more importantly, you must share their light as well as your own with everyone you encounter. We all carry a part of Tre’s light with us and we all have our own light to shine, so we are all responsible for sharing this greatness and making the world a better place.
We all have a limited amount of time on this Earth and we must do our best to follow Tre’s example and do everything we can to make the difference we can while we’re here. Every person changes the world in their own way, and if we live like Tre and give ourselves entirely, the impact we can make is limitless.
