FATHER, BROTHER, ROLE MODEL


This is ’s eulogy. He was not famous, he was not known by a large number of people, but the people who did get to know him will not forget. Jose was seen as someone who was not scared of seeking discomfort, of trying new things. An example of this is how he had this idea of participating in an “Internet Sabbath.” He knew that “the one thing technology doesn’t provide us with is a sense of how to make the best use of technology” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). Technology provides us with a really big amount of information, some might say it provides us with all the information, everything except one thing: What is the best use of technology? Technology will never be used in the best of ways, but maybe the only way of finding the best use would be through an “Internet Sabbath.” Jose was always interested in trying this idea of a break without any technology or social media. He had questions about it concerning the necessities of technology, what would he do if someone wants to know where he is or how he is doing. He wanted to find the answer and tried it for himself. He spent a while in this break and Jose was definitely satisfied with the outcome of this. He felt more free and relaxed, he understood the stress that is brought with social media, and how comfortable it was to not think about it.
Jose always loved helping people, he taught all of us that everyone should do it, and how it should be done. He demonstrated that helping can be done in different manners, through “faith, service, learning, and work” (“Young Alumni Recognition Initiative” by YoungND Board - Moreau FYE Week Two). These were his four fundamental tenets, he acted through this mission statement, the different types of help someone can give. Through faith we can help people who need it, give those people hope, Jose taught us that there will always be someone who needs the help. Service and work were pretty similar, both refer to doing physical work and helping others directly. Finally, helping through learning is one of the most powerful ones. Learning helps make the future a better place, it is what shapes people, and it is really important.
One of Jose’s most important traits is that he was a really happy person. Everytime you looked at him he was laughing, it could be by himself or nothing, but you could always see his smile. If you were to ask someone who knew Jose, there is a really small chance that they have seen him mad. Jose lived with joy, “the sense of the rightness of the way in which one is living one’s life” (“Three Key Questions” by Father Michael Himes - Moreau FYE Week 3). People may think that a person that laughs at everything is kind of weird, but Jose did not think that way. He saw it as a gift, he found things to laugh about when there wasn’t, and he always tried to make people laugh. Joy comes from your confidence in your life, of how you are living it, you feel it when you are living how you would want to. 
Jose Hurtado loved what he did, he was an architect. He has his accomplishments and his buildings across the world. He decided to follow this career path and he loved every step of the way. “Planning your career is much like planning for a trip” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Undergraduate Career Services - Moreau FYE Week 4). Jose started pursuing this career without knowing much about how it would work after college. He worked hard on researching and planning his future, and he finished with something he loved, he was happy with what he accomplished.
Once, Jose and I had a conversation for an assignment (Moreau FYE Week 5). I knew him for a long time so he chose to have this conversation with me because I was supposed to answer questions about him. I told him that what I thought he desired most was happiness, his happiness and that of the others. He always puts his family and friends first, I always saw him talking through facetime to some family member, always a different one. I also mentioned the thing about him always laughing at anything.  Another question asked when I saw Jose in “the zone.” Jose’s zone always had to do with things he loved, you could see his concentration and happiness behind it when he played basketball or when he was drawing. He loved both of those things. The final thing to do was to tell him something that he needs to hear but will be tough to absorb. I am pretty sure he already knew what I was going to say, he actually asked a lot more people to tell him something hard to listen to, and everyone said the same thing. Everyone was telling him to be more productive, he was known as the one who was never doing homework, I don’t know how he did it, but I truly almost never saw him working. 
Jose told me that once in a while he analyzed himself, he did introspection. He also liked to specify that he did it the correct way, and that he did it quickly, he sometimes acted in some way, and then realized that he did not like how he acted, thought about it, and tried his best to change it for the next time. “The more time the participants spend in introspection, the less self-knowledge they have” (”The right way to be introspective” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week 6). 
Jose, or Chema, as I called him, had this wonderful belief, which is my favorite of all of his,  “in order to do good, we need memory, we need courage and we need creativity” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week 7). Chema remembered people by how they acted, and what he did not like and what he did, this way he could implement the good things in his life. He was a weird type of courageous, he was not afraid of somethings I would have, but I think it was because he was confident that the other person would not act wrongly, he was a hopeful person. And, well, creative, he made the weirdest drawings, I do not know how he even thought about them.


I want everyone to remember me as a kind man. That is what I meant by role model, I want people to think about me and want to be as kind as I am. Just like me when I think about my grandfather.