[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 21 (Monday, May 29, 2000)]
[Pages 1217-1218]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Memorial Service for Casey Shearer in Providence, Rhode 
Island

May 25, 2000

    The President.  Derek, Ruth, Anthony, Julia, Marva, Allyson, all of 
the family and friends, I want you to know why we're here today. Over 30 
years ago, I lived with Casey's Uncle Strobe, and through him I met 
Casey's Aunt Brooke. And they were in love, and so I then had to meet 
Derek and Cody and Marva and Skip. And then I introduced them to 
Hillary. And then Derek introduced all of us to Ruth. And the rest is 
history.
    What I want to say to all of you is, when we were young, we were to 
each other what Casey has been to you. And I think I can say for all of 
us, listening to you today has been overwhelming and wonderful. And all 
I can hope is that you will hold on to it for the rest of your lives.
    But we have a few memories, too.

 [At this point, the First Lady made brief remarks.]

    The President.  His classmates might be interested to know that when 
I ran for President first in 1992, Casey actually tried to tutor me in 
rap music. [Laughter] You know, I would do this whole shtick. I played 
on Arsenio Hall's show, and I was trying to show that I was in tune with 
younger voters. I knew nothing about rap music. [Laughter] I knew 
nothing about the music of the eighties. I went to work and missed it 
all. Casey was horrified that I was going to embarrass myself on 
national television and blow the election. [Laughter]

[[Page 1218]]

    I also remember, after we went to the White House, Casey and his 
family, we went to a Baltimore Orioles game together. And I actually 
thought I knew something about baseball until he offered the play-by-
play. [Laughter] So I remember that.

 [The First Lady made brief remarks.]

    The President.  Now, I come here today and find out that he gave a 
great gift to our Embassy in Italy with that--[laughter]. You know, even 
though I just have a few months left to serve, I still have some measure 
of influence, and I think I'll have a plaque put up at that pool. 
[Laughter]
    Let me say to all of you just one last thing. Growing older has its 
joys. But one of the great burdens is the pain and mystery of losing 
children--the ones you know and the ones you don't. And I don't know any 
more about it today than I did when I was your age, but I know a little 
more about life. It's such a short time--21 years, 22.
    But a few days ago, I went to Chicago to an event. And after it was 
over, I went with my friends there to the Field Museum, where Hillary 
spent a lot of time as a kid. Now, at the Field Museum now, they have 
this 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue, after the woman 
who found her on a South Dakota farm. I liked old Sue. And I thought to 
myself, we're all just passing through. I mean, she was here 67 million 
years ago.
    And what I would like to say to you is that, whether you live for 20 
years or 50 or 80 or 100, it doesn't take long to live a life. And Mr. 
Wordsworth was right, the last best portions of it are the little 
unremembered acts of kindness and love. Casey Shearer had a great life.
    Thank you.

 Note:  The President spoke at 5:45 p.m. in Sayles Hall at Brown 
University. In his remarks, he referred to the following members of 
Casey Shearer's family: his uncle, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe 
Talbott; his aunt, Brooke Shearer, former director, White House 
Fellowships; his father, former U.S. Ambassador to Finland Derek N. 
Shearer; his stepbrother, Anthony Shearer, and his stepsister, Julia; 
his mother, Ruth Y. Goldway; his grandparents, Lloyd (Skip) and Marva 
Shearer; and his uncle, journalist Cody Shearer. The President also 
referred to Casey's girlfriend, Allyson Grant. The transcript released 
by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of the 
First Lady.