There was one aspect of the way Xu lived which I think we can all learn from. Xu had a real desire to experience everything in life. Anytime someone asked Xu to join something, he would immediately say "Yes!" and he would join.
When Xu joined our softball team, he had never played softball and was immediately thrown into a very difficult game with no experience. He was really, really bad. His first at bat, he swung the bat in a way that no one in the entire world had ever swung it before. He was not even close to hitting it, and he was standing ON home plate. The opposing team had a chuckle at this easy out, but Xu kept his head up and kept trying, learning, trying, learning...trying, learning. There are no strike outs in this softball, so it was the perfect place for him to learn. I think he once took over 20 pitches to get out. Each pitch, he was more determined to tweak and get it right. After a few weeks of struggle, he started to hit. His first hit was to left center, a great hit! He was so excited and ran so hard, so quickly that he ran right by first base and into all the way into right field. We then started to work on the rules of base running.
One time, while playing third base, the ball hit towards him and hit him directly in the mouth and his mouth was bleeding. It was a very tough day for Xu, but he smiled the entire game, and ran out each inning. He was committed, and we were glad he would keep playing. He came out to the next game, and the next. Each day, just trying to get better. Then, one day on 3rd base, a hard hit was hit right towards him...he dove, caught it, stood up and threw out the batter at first base. Just like a professional.
This may all seem like a minor story, but it does tell the story of how Xu lived. This was the can-do attitude, the desire to be a part of everything that I loved about Xu. He did this all with such joy. I am going to miss Xu, and I hope if we all learned something from him, it is that we embrace opportunity and challenge with a smile, have fun, and go home smiling at the end of the day.