Tonight Allison and I went with our friend’s Neil and Andrea to the wake for our friend Meghan’s Mom. A real testament to the legacy of a person and their character can often be seen not in the money they made but in the people whose lives they touched. We arrived to see a line stretching across the parking lot at 6:45pm. We saw the family at 9:45pm when we saw the family. Certainly Meghan’s mom, Nancy, touched many, many lives.
Steven Covey’s second habit for highly effective people is “Begin With the End in Mind”. I can’t quite remember what Covey said in the book (I need to re-read the 7 Habits soon) but I can say that as we drove home my mind went right to that chapter title. To me this means that you should think about your own wake and funeral.
Who will be there and what will they say about you? Will they spend 3 hours in line to pay their respect because they know you, your children, your grandchildren? You have a role to play in all of that and I think that the more you give back of your time, talent and to some extent treasure you leave a legacy that is very rich. Clearly Nancy left a very rich legacy.
Getting out of work today, I was taken with the look of the sky. I snapped this shot in the parking lot. However I wished I could stop my car in traffic because I saw so many more amazing views in other places along my drive home.
I got home quickly because today I went with my Mom and Dad and Grandpa Bennett to a wake for my Dad’s 2nd cousin Steve. Steve was a fireman on the Attleboro department. We arrived in time for the priest to do a gospel reading and a homily. He had a beautiful message to focus on the things of today, don’t be distracted by the past and tomorrow hasn’t happened yet. Today is the day.
Today I connected with someone that I have great respect for, his name is Ed Gerety. I met Ed years ago at a Hoby (Hugh O’Brien Youth Foundation) event. Later I remembered Ed and had him come to Sacred Heart to work with the students there. I bumped into him online a few times but now he has a blog and I subscribed, a great way to keep up with what he is doing. His blog is Ed Gerety’s Dream Big Blog. It sounds like a make money blog but it is not, Ed is a man of true substance and his words will captivate and motivate you.
