Today I spent some time with my 96 year old great-grandmother. She was born in 1913. She has seen a lot of life. She's had a front seat to incredible inventions, the birth and death of nations, family growing and changing, and an unending list of life's surprises. We tried to talk with her but she kept complaining about her hearing aid not working. I felt helpless in helping my mothers', mothers', mother. I wish I could make it so she could hear.
Whenever I share space and conversation with her I am humbled by how much more life she has experienced. I sometimes wish that our life lessons were passed down so that memories of wars, lovers, deaths, and births were inherited by each new generation. This fantasy ignited my imagination to wonder about the rest of my family, and how their life journeys' have crafted who I have become.
It is said that to understand the future you most first understand the past. Undoubtedly our world has been shaped by our forefathers and foremothers, and conversely the future of this world will grow into what we make it. This is both exhilarating and burdensome. I hope I can do a good job, as my parents are apart of the baby-boom generation, the generation that has left their mark on earth like none before them. Theirs is a time that democracy thrived, liberty prevailed, prosperity engulfed, and companies, countries, and computers were created. I'm honored to at some point in my future, take the baton and run the proverbial marathon of life. As Richard Parker, grandfather of Spiderman, said, "With great power comes great responsibility."
I don't know who reads this, but take a moment and reflect on who brought you into this world, how their stories created your story. Were there battles fought? What tough choices were made? What risks were taken? Are there heroes? How far back can you go? Organizations envisioned? Sacrificed made, selfless and giving? Migrations? Tragedies? Miracles?
Imagine really cool music to these lyrics:
When Dusk has come
And all will fall
Into the spring of heavenly
This day is ending
She cannot hear
But in her ear the tambourine
A hundred years of life fades
her days are ending
This is my family, I would not trade it in
I am their beloved son, California raised
Grandpa fought a war
Met his wife on Alaskan shores
Where she came so adventurous
My fathers' parents
Grandma met her man in Wyoming
They took the train
Bound for the city by the bay
My mothers' parents
This is my ancestry, Wars and Medicine
I am their beloved son, California raised
Burns, the toughness of
My fathers love
He had it hard
But faithfulness and all he gave
Will measure who he is to me
Warm, the softness of
My mothers love
She puts her faith in God
And prays for us like he hears her words
This is my history, shared over red wine
I am their beloved son, California raised
Waves crash the beach
Nearby where my sister sleeps
She is my only sibling
and I love her so
Spring, today is spring
And I reflect
On all I have
And all I've seen
And all I am
and I am blessed
This is my family, I would not trade it in
I am their beloved son, California raised
