Leaving a Legacy








I think we all would like to be remembered when we leave this earth. No one likes to think they simply die and are "out of sight, out of mind". How one leaves a legacy is interesting to ponder. We all leave a legacy by our lives, whether we like that or not--and some things about our lives we would probably just as soon not include in our legacy! We learn very early as parents that children respond far more to what we do and say as we go about our daily lives than by what we tell them to do or say as we offer instruction and direction. We may like the "do as I say; not as I do" maxim, but it simply doesn't work. So, we strive to leave a good legacy by our behavior and our words, and hope for the best.






I have observed the efforts of some wealthy folks, and also some politicians, to leave a legacy by having a college or department, or a building, bridge, road, or some other physical structure named for them. I have never thought just having a building or something else named for someone was a particularly significant way to be remembered. I walked past the George C. Wallace building on the Auburn University campus this past weekend. It has his name in large letters and the actual program housed in the building in much smaller letters. I have been to several of the junior colleges around our state. I think two of them are named for George Wallace and another one for his wife, Lurleen, and all of them have at least one building named for George Wallace. That is not a particularly commendable legacy, in my opinion. Especially in the case of Wallace, whose race-baiting rhetoric inflamed the public and set back peaceful integration and good race relations in Alabama for years. Our national image, even today, is largely shaped by Wallace's rhetoric. That is his legacy, and it is not a very good one.

Of course, for all of us, our children are our most notable legacy. I am extremely proud of my three. They are each unique, talented, bright, beautiful/handsome inside and out, and are simply good successful people with a genuine faith in our Lord. I am indeed blessed in that regard. Nor do I think I will simply fade from their memory when I am gone. I think and hope they will have fond memories of me and will find comfort in those memories. I tried to instill values and a world view that would sustain them well, and I think there is good evidence of success there.

I am also thrilled to be a grandfather! Leah and Michael are such a delight. So in a way, having offspring assures a lasting legacy, and surely the best one. Hopefully I will be remembered by all of them with affection. I want to live at least long enough for Leah and Michael to have good memories of me. If I died now, neither of them would remember me at all, so I am not ready to leave this earth just yet! I want to watch them grow and develop, as well as watch my grown children's lives evolve.





As I have grown older--seemingly at a very fast pace!--I have reflected on the divergent paths in my life's journey over the past seventy plus years, and the choices I have made. I have tried to avoid regrets and "what ifs" and to accept the results. I have a good life, and feel blessed that I have made mostly good decisions. My family has done reasonably well as a result of those decisions. However, it is difficult to not look at some of the decisions and wonder what might have happened if a different road had been taken. Some probably would have led to very good results, but some could have easily led to very bad results! I have even considered writing a novel or short story around that theme.




Here is the setup: A guy is sitting in a waiting room at an airport. He looks around at several different guys, all about the same age as him, but with noticeably different circumstances, and imagines what their lives really are like. As he thinks about each one and fills in the blanks, It suddenly dawns on him that he could be any one of them! They each represent himself, and the result of his decisions, at several different forks in the road of life. Sound interesting?