This is what you get….. This…. is what you get…!

“I am the son of a great man. A goddess was my mother.”

I grew up on the Iliad and the songs of Heroes. These things never seemed to be foreign, dated or passé.

I live in the past. In the age of Homeric Heroes where heroes were supposed to be braver, stronger, smarter, more courageous; in essence, better than any man. It was and still is an ideal to aspire to; a noble challenge. So why am I here in this place? For the simple reason to bring that Homeric Ideal to life.

I never fashioned myself as Hektor or Achilles. Certainly not Agamemnon. Although if you look around you might see the contemporary Pericles. Or he may be the Theseus who reached out to me in my hurt and made my dignity as important as his own.
I may be a bit of Odysseus in that I am always at “odds” with others and never satisfied. But Aias, Diomedes, Patroklos? No…………I am not the greatest,……….. but I have gifts: gifts which allow me to stand in the presence of such noble company.
I have a discerning eye… I see greatness.

Others deserve this award too. They are tireless and give their life to this “thing of ours” and their presence brightens any room they are in. They are the nurturing, tough and clear. They are….simply……… brilliant!!
For insight and deep compassion there they are, an Athena, a Diana.

And my father……. my father…………..Ed Smith

Others deserve this as well. Look around, they are exactly who you want to have at your back and they embody the spirit of honor better than you can imagine.

They are always there with a smile, never too busy and full of hope at the worst of times, should they come to pass.

Friends, partners and brothers, others deserve this as well. Their counsel kept me determined and hard working.
They brought me here. And they kept me here…….. and when these great men and women leave, it will be my time to exit as well.

They are tough, hardworking and faster than you can believe; archers far better than Teucer. Together we’ve been through the war. They should stand here before you.
They are friends that I can call anytime with the most difficult problems; the best of fellows are here. They have done much. They are advisors worthy to be immortalized in the lines of Homer.

But the “powers that be” asked me to be brief……………

I will not………..

These giants are our mentors. And as you all know Mentor was a Greek………..
They leave me in awe. Modern Apollo’s and Athena’s in a new context and full of the beauty of “rosy fingered dawn…..”
I could close my eyes and reach out to so many infinitely deserving……. and that never fading specter of my father, my grandfather, never fading, always there, always giving…………
All around you are giants….. Priams’, Nestors’ and Laertes; friends, advisors and more. Too many to name.

So who is the greatest? In Sparta they quizzed the young about who was the greatest Spartan, the greatest Athenian. So I submit to you that the greatest is the one who is tireless in raising others………..

I see the greatness in others because of my father, my wife (my Penelope), my children, my granddaughters and you who are my teachers and always …..the Iliad.

But this little paean is to the young. Look around. And as you do, as you look upon these giants, these heroic men and women know that great things are possible because great deeds have been done, by these people.
Can we ever achieve what they have? I don’t know but the beauty is in the work, the struggle and the trying. I know this to be true because I want to be a better man after being around them.

I was asked to keep this brief but on this day I will displease others as I end with 2 last thoughts; neither are new, but both are brilliant. I did not invent them. They are timeless, and… they are vital.

We all die but we live on by our actions, work and relationships. That is our legacy and the best, will remember……….. And we work for the best.
We are building something which outstrips this brief time. Let’s build it well, with beauty, with grace and with fortitude……….. Heroically.

As you look out know that you are in the company of greatness, and that you must measure yourself by these giants.

And as Sarpedon, I say to you, my Glaucus- All this now obliges us to take our places in the front ranks………..

Welcome to a great age, at a great place, with a great mission.
You have landed well……..Now, let us get to work.