Make a Difference In One Person’s Life Each Day

Sometimes things happen that are not fair. This week was an example of that with my nephew Reeves Broussard.

He was diagnosed with a condition called AVM (Arteriovenous malformation) in early November of 2022 and due to its location, it was felt that it was inoperable, making it a ticking time bomb. We all hoped that he would have more time, but God had other plans for Reeves and all of us.

He and I shared a career and a love of Dad jokes. When he got a job doing development for Chick-fil-A, I asked him when they checked code back into the repository if they had to add a comment that said "My pleasure." He thought it was hilarious.

How will I remember Reeves? Well, he is just like my dad in so many ways. From being a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and a faithful Catholic to being extremely smart to a level of kindness and consideration that few could match I wish every person in the world had a chance to learn how incredible he was.

On September 23rd, for the final time, he showed his generous spirit by giving the gift of life to others by donating his organs. They held an Honor Walk for him at the hospital which was attended by about 200 people.

The hospital was blown away by the outpouring of support and love for this fine young man. My brother told me that people kept coming up to him to tell him how Reeves had impacted their lives. The security guard at the hospital told my brother that people wanted to know what celebrity was at the hospital from the crowd that was there all weekend. They flew an Organ Donor flag for him as well and it will be treasured.

He had a knack for making a connection with people, but amazingly he maintained those connections over time. I talk to people all day long, every day in meetings and often have to find a way to quickly establish a rapport with someone, but Reeves didn't just do that surface connection, he maintained it and was an amazing listener.

He attended Georgia Tech (a big deal for a family from Athens, GA where the UGA is the destination of choice), but he endured the teasing with good humor and got himself a fantastic education. While he was majoring in Computer Science, he also did a minor at the Denning Technology & Management Program where he learned about business and management while the business students learned about programming. I'd highly recommend such an interdisciplinary program to everyone. While in school, he interned for Boeing and then worked for General Motors as a developer before making his move to Chick-fil-A.

Along the way, he was the uncle to his sister's three children, always making the trip from Atlanta to Athens to be there for them.

We last saw Reeves this summer when we made a trip out to visit everyone in Georgia. He had to work the entire week, but on Friday when we were heading to the airport, we met up with him for lunch. His smile, his sense of humor, and his immense graciousness in taking my wife and the kids to the mall while I had to take a work call were typical of how we did everything in life. Oh, and he didn't just drop them off, he went into the mall with them and accompanied them for the hour that I had to be in a call. I would say that he likely had better things to do then, but for him, this was the "better thing."

When my brother was organizing his funeral Mass, the group got to watch his interview for the Denning School, and in that, Reeves said that his goal in life is to "Make a difference in one person's life each day." As I was at the reception after his funeral mass, I saw the crowd (about 500 people attended the mass) and I saw circles and circles of people who all knew each other from somewhere...from college, from various jobs. Reeves had been their Best Man or were fraternity brothers or fellow Knights. I told my son that each of these circles is a distinct social group but that they all were surrounded by Reeves, and he brought them together. I know that he wouldn't want us to be sad, and I'm sure he is waiting for us to join him one day, but it's hard when I see all the lives he touched and how many people will miss him. So I ask myself, did I make a difference in someone's life today?