One of the things that is most important to me is a firm understanding of who I am and where I've come from. To those ends I have sought out my family history on both my mother's and father's sides. Mom..coming down from the Dutch (one of the original Dutch families that settled in what is now Manhattan) and my father...from a long line of Welsh coal miners. The point being, neither is illustrious, but it's my history, and along with that knowledge comes a good sense of who I really am. I firmly believe that when possible, we should seek out our own family history, and when it's not, we should take the responsibility to create one. What do I mean by that? Well, when I was a young professional, coming up through the ranks of the financial industry we had a speaker come to our office...he was like most "speaker-types;" challenging us to be physically active, mentally sharp, and to take advantage of all the free offerings in life (I remember specifically his pulling out a library card and asking who had one...he had just about lost me at that point.) One other thing that I do remember, however, is that he said "a life worth living is a life worth recording." That stuck (obviously) and so when my son was born back in the early 2000's I began writing letters to him in a journal. I probably write 4 or 5 per year and they're usually several pages long. I started the journal with some backstory about our family (both my wife's and mine) and then launched into every topic that I think could aid him in his walk through life...interpersonal relationships, religion, politics, the state of the world, how I've dealt with certain challenges, what to expect in certain situations, etc. The point being is that the speaker from my youth was correct...a life worth living IS worth recording...and hopefully my record of what has gone on in this brief period known as my life will find it's way into my son's hands...and then who knows where from that point forward...
Just a thought...
Until next time...
TNCG
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