Love, Darcy | My Dad’s Legacy

My Dad died way too soon. Yesterday would have been his 84^th birthday. What is super weird for me this year is that I am the same age as he was when he died. That really makes me realize how young he was when he passed away! Although my Dad has been gone for 25 years, I still miss him terribly and wish I could have him back for just a day. I’d spend that day trying to give him a sense of what has happened in our lives over the last quarter of a century. I’d want him to meet our children (his grandchildren) and their children (his great grandchildren). I’d like him to know the legacy that he left behind. I think my Dad was a man who went to his grave with quite a few regrets, especially when it came to how he connected to the hearts of his six children. He filled his life with work rather than family, striving rather than loving. However, I have never once wished I had another Dad. I know that God is certainly in charge of that and I thank Him often for the parents He gave to me. My father taught his children how to work hard, to help others less fortunate and to make the most of what life dishes out. He illustrated all of those values as a young man when he joined the Navy to support his orphaned siblings rather than finish high school, My kids will never have the privilege of knowing their grandfather, but I am determined to make sure they know that he played a part in who they are today. The values of hard work, compassion and perseverance are part of the legacy passed down to them through the generations. As you know, when it comes to the issue of leaving a legacy, none of us has a choice of whether or not we’re going to leave one.  It’s a foregone conclusion.  The only choice we have is what kind of a legacy it will be because we are writing our legacy every day by the choices we make. Our true epitaphs will not be carved in stone.  They will be carved in the souls and memories of our children…of our grandsons and granddaughters.  Regardless of what someone someday chooses to write about us on our tombstones, those words can never overwrite what we were to those we leave behind. Someday we will stand before the God who bought our eternal souls on a cross.  Now we are leaving a legacy.  Then we will give an account.  Between now and then is all the time we have left. We must make good use of it. Here’s to early good-byes and legacies that last, Love, Darcy