On life, legacy and the importance of being grateful.
As the sun reached its peak in the summer sky and began its long journey toward the horizon, sadly, my grandfather passed away. His heart, heavy with worries and weary from illness, but no doubt full of love and devotion to his family and his God, wavered and stopped beating — as if he had reached the end of his own metaphorical journey toward the horizon. In the comfort of his own home, his eyes closed, and his light slowly faded. His wife, my Grandma, was at his side.
For me, the news of Grandpa’s death came as both unexpected and inevitable, a shock and a comfort. I have fond memories of a jovial man who would occasionally terrify us as children by taking out his false teeth during family get-togethers. But I have also watched over recent years as his health declined, taking much of his verve for life with it. Old age is rarely kind.
More than anything, my grandfather’s passing served as a poignant reminder of the fragility of this thing we call ‘life’, and our duty to cherish and flourish within it while we are still fortunate enough to have the opportunity.
It’s true: life simply cannot go on forever. But while we’re alive and living it, we have this funny old habit of believing or wishing that it would. The calm in the arms of a loved one, the feeling of awe in the cloudless night sky, the joy in the pages of an old book. Oh how we yearn for these moments to never end; and sometimes, in their own way, they indeed feel infinite. Our Endless Numbered Days, as musician Sam Beam would put it.
But there is something in this; for life does have a way of persevering, even when your time is up. After only the briefest flicker of geological time, a time that comprised his own 85 years of endless numbered days, Grandpa’s influence extends far beyond fond memories. In fact, his greatest legacy — my family — will continue to live, love, and laugh long into the future. And it goes without saying that if it were not for him I would not be here writing these very words. In a sense, I owe him everything.
Yet, taking a step back, I know that my highly improbable, yet remarkably fortunate existence on this planet cannot be pinned to one man. Nor can it be attributed solely to my parents or extended family. No, I am but one tiny beneficiary of a common legacy left by all who have come before me. I am the fluke result of countless years of good fortune, good health, good genes, good timing, and (probably) good sex.
I am here because my forebears, my grandfather included, were themselves lucky enough to be enriched with the support of their families, friends and communities. I exist because they were fortunate to have roofs over their heads, clothes on their backs, and a productive economy that worked in their favour to help secure these things. I am alive and well because they had clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, enough food to eat, and a stable climate and functioning ecology to protect life’s bare essentials.
They benefited from what was bequeathed to them — socially, economically and environmentally — but they also helped to determine what was bequeathed to those that followed. Today, we are all part of that same legacy, the same age-old project of humanity.
We have certainly been provided well for: my generation is one of the luckiest, healthiest, and wealthiest to have ever lived. But those in our past also borrowed heavily from the future to grant us these riches. Today, ecologies are collapsing, economies are failing, and societies are starting to unravel. The push-and-pull between meeting our needs now and meeting the needs of those to come has become unbalanced. But it need not be this way; we can — and we are beginning to — forge a new path forward. These are, indeed, exciting times.
When I stand and reflect on my own brief and accidental blip on the grandest of timelines, I can’t help but feel humbled. The world is an incredible place, and being alive in it is an experience for which no words can do justice. Yes, my lifetime may be short, but I have been entrusted with an immense fortune at the beginning of what is perhaps the most fascinating and precarious period in human history. Being a part of our delicate humanity on this formidable planet comes with it great rewards, but also a tremendous responsibility: not only to articulate the values and dreams of the future we wish to see, but to work to set those gears in motion.
And so, armed with this knowledge, fortune and vision of a better world, an impassioned benevolence burns in my soul. A desire for truth, beauty and justice courses through my veins. A sense of wonder fills my mind. And the deepest gratitude fills my heart. When finally my own light quivers and fades away, the legacy I wish to leave will be not only for my children, for their children, and for the world beyond, but for all those before me to whom I am greatly indebted for this gift. This gift called life.
I thank you, Grandpa.
