My Generations

A simple yet profound thought came to me today.

I suddenly realized that whether I want to or not, I will have a significant influence on dozens, or hundreds, or maybe thousands of lives. This will happen not as a result of my roles in business, or politics, or church or community. Rather, it is an inexorable function of being a father.

If years ago you would have asked me if I had some influence on how my children turned out, I suppose I would have answered in the affirmative. But now I have the privilege of observing living specimens; of seeing my children as fully grown adults. And only now am I beginning to appreciate how much is passed like a dowry from generation to generation--cultures, attitudes, values, interests, tastes, traditions and habits, to name a few. Some of these stick, and will be passed on to my children's children. And some will undoubtedly survive a generation or two beyond that. And in some small yet important way, I suspect that some threads of our parental influence will be woven into the lives of our descendants for many generations to come.

If I have raised my children mostly right, maybe they will be smart enough to eradicate most of the deficient parts of their inheritance. Maybe they will be more patient, will give gifts on time, will have family service activities and sing together. But just as well, I hope that somewhere down the line a child who has only known me by genealogy will nonetheless learn a poem that his father taught him, or camp in remote backcountry with her mother, or read philosophy or play touch football or have big Thanksgiving get-togethers or practice good table manners or have in his or her young life at least one baton that I once held and that had been passed from mother and father to daughter and son.

I will be more careful now with what I am leaving behind. I wish I had thought of this earlier.