If you haven’t yet heard the name Eric Lucas, I am betting someday you will. This kid, is most certainly, gonna do great things. In fact, he already is. I first met Eric in an interview for the Mark Harris Fellowship Program, the non-profit which honors the legacy of my late husband by providing mentoring and financial assistance to underprivileged youth. Eric described for the interview committee the challenges that he had faced in his life thus far, including the difficult experiences he had in childhood, losing a close friend to suicide, and being placed in foster care at the age of 13. What he said next hit me right in the heart and will stick with me forever. Eric expressed how much he loved, appreciated and respected his foster family. He then explained that his foster parents wanted to adopt him but he decided that he preferred guardianship, only because he wanted to keep his last name. He declared emphatically, “I want to keep the name Lucas because I am going to be the one to make something of that name.” Eric, I have no doubt you will.
