Reflections

Legacy

• By fannieb
• October 26, 2014
• No Comments

The wall of eyes stares at me with anticipation. Those eyes belong to my deceased relatives – my aunt, and uncle, my grandparents, my stepdad, my mother and father. They pierce my soul and seem to plead to me, “Do something big for us because we can no longer do it for ourselves.”

The centerpiece on my wall of family portraits is of my mom and dad on their wedding day in 1960. Both were so young, so thin, so bright eyed, so alive, so full of promise – their dreams yet to materialize, unclouded with the reality that would eventually play out. Their eyes, their smiles, their elation waft off the photograph as I gaze at them and they tell me, “The world is your oyster. Take the promise that our lives once held and make it your own. Go, do brilliant things.”

It staggers me – the unspoken expectation in their eyes and the premature excitement at their willed challenges for me, challenges I’ve yet to meet. It staggers but also inspires me to dream big, work hard, and do what others are not willing to do in order to achieve that which I was born to accomplish.

Mommy and Daddy’s faces say, “You’re still young enough… but don’t wait! Do it now. Put the wheels of your plan into motion. Don’t let your dreams be only dreams, unrealized – your gifts unshared with the world. Do this for us! You’ve already made us so proud, but we want you to live your wildest dreams. In living them you enhance our legacy.”