Better late than never, right?
Legacy. Do you ever wonder what your legacy will be? What will you be remembered for? What will you pass on? I've given it some thought lately. As a parent, the moment your children are born, you become a teacher. Everything you do is a potential lesson. Every word you speak has the possibility of living forever in the mind of your child. Maybe it's having children who are ready to test their wings that has me thinking, wondering, hoping I've taught good lessons. Important lessons. Lessons that will stay with them even when I'm not. Some days I'm sure I've failed miserably and other days I feel better about the job I've done as parent and teacher. Every day I'm glad I've had the most wonderful partner to hold my hand and share in this awesome responsibility.
This week my gratitude is for lessons learned and those who taught me those lessons.
- First and foremost my Granny. I could write an entire book on all I learned from her. She taught by example. Practiced what she preached. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of her is her smile. Her unconditional love and her love and kindness to everyone she knew. She taught me about love and compassion and for that I'm grateful.
- My mom. Some of the lessons I learned from her were hard ones. Sometimes they were about what not to do, mistakes to avoid. Those lessons, though hard earned, are also important and appreciated. Because she died so young I know how important every day is.
- From my aunt Mary I've learned so much about generosity and responsibility and the importance of an education.
- My uncle Keith taught me to love animals.
- My pastor of 35 years taught me many lessons through his sermons. One that really stands out to me was that the most important gift you can give you children is to love their mom/dad. This was especially important to me, growing up without a dad. I had no concept of marriage, happy or otherwise. I had no example to go by, but I've always wanted to give my children a good example of a happy home and parents who love each other.
- Mitch has taught me about love and security and honesty and happiness and laughter and..... the list goes on and on.
There are so many more but I'll stop with these. I'm grateful for these lessons learned and I can only hope to continue the legacy. To in turn pass them along to my children.
The tire swing photo was taken by my mother, many years ago.
