There are many words in the English language I love...choc-o-late, poppet, wine, luxurious, pastry, decadent, smothered, passion, etc, Mine mostly have to to with food, either preparing it or eating it. Thats a whole other blog.
A word that grabs me by the collar and slaps me in the face is LEGACY. It is a thinking/action word. There is responsibility in it. It is directly linked to what I do today. Opposed to a feeling word like Love. Although I know Love is a choice (because there are many a days that I have to choose to love some people) but it is also tied in with so many "feelings".
Leaving a positive Legacy is a decision.
I often picture my life at the end (very Hollywood) and play it backwards. What do I see? What do I want to see?
Today I went to a farewell assembly for a teacher at my wee ones primary school. She has only been at the school for 3 years but it was apparent that the impact she has made on students, parent and staff alike was a testimony to the word Legacy. She left a Miss B imprint on them. In a few months most people will have forgotten her and moved on but there will be a handful or several handfuls of people who will always have the touch of her on their life. It will have molded them in a way that no one else could have.
It is living outside of ourselves and beyond ourselves.
For me, I don't really know her, I have probably only said about 20 words to her in my life. I know Master 6 had a run in with her at school one day. She is the only teacher that has ever "told him off" and he was gutted!
What I am thankful for is that she showed me through her leaving how we can give and be richer for it.
Thats the legacy I choose.
Sniff sniff...here I go again!
ReplyDeleteWhat a day. What an honour to have such a thoughtful assembly put together for my farewell. In the last few months my partner and I have said over and over again how we feel disappointed on how much the Chch earthquake has affected our feelings about NZ. We can't help but feel frustrated over living in a city that is hardly functioning its normal capacity. Though we would obviously miss our friends, we felt fortunate to have the opportunity to leave. We have so many fantastic NZ memories, but it seemed the earthquake was superseding them. This assembly changed all that. Talk about a legacy. I will forever remember the kindness, thoughtfulness and love that was put into this assembly. I will take this memory with me and cherish it always.