In Remembrance of Professor Lancaster

Tonight I attended Professor Wade Lancaster Memorial service on the ship. Professor Lancaster passed away in Shanghai due to natural causes. His wife Janet Lancaster was also a professor on the ship. She left to go back to the states to lay him to rest and then returned in Singapore to carry out the rest of the voyage. I unfortunately never had him as a professor nor got the chance to meet him but he sounded like a wonderful man. The memorial service was one that I will never forget. Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke during the service which touched my heart. I was honored to see the Archbishop at what he does best. He said how on January 9 when we started this voyage many of us didn't know each other any better than a bar of soap(The Archbishop has quite a sense of humor). But that today we have become a family. I have never been so moved by the way Desmond Tutu spoke. He looked at Mrs. Lancaster and whispers the words of god telling her that he says "i love you" repetitively in a soft whisper. There were so many students who attended the service, many who did not have the opportunity to meat the professor and even haven't met his wife but showed their support for someone who we lost, a shipboard family member. After the service everyone walked out of the union silently to the back of the ship and one by one took a rose and tossed it into the water as the MV Explorer made a figure 8 to represent eternal and infinite life and remembrance of the professor. As you walked outside, the water was calm, and the sun was setting which turned to a bright beautiful pink in the distance. I felt at peace, humbled, and honored to be part of the ceremony and to help remember the life of a wonderful man that I never had the opportunity to meet.