So what will be your legacy ?

[Eamonn 61]

Reading FB and the tomb stone or epitaph led tome to thinking about what my legacy will be? What will I leave behind and what will people remember about Eamonn?

I have seen Council Presidents who have had pet projects, mainly in the form of buildings that they have pushed through Board meetings. Of course they name them after some other notable Scouter. Sad to say these very often drain the coffers of the council and somehow rarely live up to expectations.

My troop back home built a Scout Hall in memory of a Scouter who died in a POW camp during WWII, the Hall got a lot of use and served the Scouts well for about 40 years. Sad to say the William Thompson Memorial Hall is still there and there is no longer a troop or even a district. It will be sold and the money will go to the Scout Association, where the money will be put to do good.

I would like to think that the Scouts that I have served over the years will act as my legacy. Not just the "War Stories." But maybe the tender moments.Times that more then lightly will never be voiced out loud, but just remembered with the hint of a smile. Sure there will be tales of lost passports, collapsing monkey bridges and camp fires when we laughed till our sides ached. A Lad who was in the troop E-mailed me the other day and said how he thinks of me every time he looks at the clouds. At the time he was a Scout UK Scouts had to be able to recognize and name clouds. They all had long Latin names and this Lad had a real hard time.

I kinda think my legacy will be nothing big, just a collection of small smiles from different people. While the smiles might be small the people who wear them have been some of the most important people in the world to me. I hope that my real legacy is that I served them well.

Eamonn.

[OneHour 11]

Mine is fairly easy ... on my tombstone are the words of my sons:

 

"Rest in peace our best friend, our Dad. Love your sons."

 

As with Eamonn, from below (6' that is), I would like to look up and see the smiles on their faces as they recount the fun that we had ... no tears ... just smiles!

 

1Hour

[kenk 11]

Hands down ... my children. They are my focus and my pride & joy. They are the best thing I've ever done in my life.

[Fuzzy Bear 12]

On the wall of my Grandmother's house, she had a picture of this young man in a sailor suit. It was dark, probably Navy Blue, the picture was B/W. He wore a round sailor's cap with a little ribbon to the back and side. He was a nice looking young man. He looked a little like my Uncle. I looked at that picture for several years before I had the courage to ask who he was. I had met all of the relatives but I knew he was not one of the ones I knew.

 

My Aunt gave me the answer one year. He was Uncle John. He was killed in the war.

 

My thoughts of Uncle John ran from, Was he too young to have had a past? to, Was the hurt too much to remember him? I never got past that threshold of finding out about Uncle John. He was just this picture on Grandmas wall of a young man in a sailors suit.

 

FB

[scoutldr 726]

People frequently ask me "why are you not happy"? Most think I'm depressed and need to be on drugs. I do not. I get extremely frustrated by those who waste what little time I may have left on this Earth by their ignorance, stupidity, laziness, carelessness, thoughtlessness, and selfishness. Even more so as I approach the big 5-0 in September. I recently came across a quote that I think answers the question very well...and is a lesson that our children are missing completely...and that depresses me.

 

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

 

[packsaddle 753]

Great quote from a wise man and a Unitarian Universalist!

I'm sincere about this. There's no way to know one's legacy. If I have helped a student that is good enough. If my children have happy, productive lives that is good. For myself, I want to die a violent, anonymous death and if not anonymous, be cremated and have no marker as a record of my presence.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

[OldGreyEagle 5]

A long time ago, when I first met up with the troop I now serve I wanted to be the best adult leader the troop ever had. I was not afraid to point out to the boys what they had done wrong and how they should have done it better. I was not afraid to raise my voice and let a "deserving" scout have a verbal diatribe for all sorts of offenses, from not being able to start a fire when he was first class to buring the meal. Then, after a few years, a group of first years crossed over and the adult leaders were being introduced. The Troop Guides would say the persons name and then explain what role that leader had in the troop. When it was my turn, it came out like this, "this is Mr GreyEagle, and he can shout really loud". I was crushed. No mention of the joy I held for scouting, no mention of how I was tough but fair, no mention of the fact I had never refused to help any scout who asked me and would knock myself out finding an answer if I didnt know it. only "He can shout really loud".

 

Well, I havent shouted since that day. I now sing my songs and recite my poems. I still correct scouts, but in a lower volume and away from the crowd. I remember what a wise old scoutmaster once told me, "you know, in the end, we are in the memories business" I want memories of me to be happy and bring smiles to their faces as they remember even the silliest of songs. I want them to have as much fun being as scout as I do(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[LPC_Thumper 10]

A quote that I think really applies to me and my "boys":

 

A hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of a car I drove, how big my house was, where I went on vacation, or how much money was in my bank account. The world maybe a better place because I had an influence in the life of a boy.

 

Now with that said, one of my boys was part of the team that discovered Taxall (I'm sure that's not spelled correctly). It was found originally by mistake as his children were not careful with some petri dishes he had taken with them as they camped in Glacier National Park. It was later learned that this substance kills all sorts of cancer cells rather effectively. I had NOTHING to do with this discovery, other than developing a love of the outdoors in a dad, who happened to be working on his PhD, and wanted some time with his kids because he hadn't stopped and smelled the air for a while.

 

I think my legacy is more about a dad doing family things, than a man discovering what may turn out to be a cure for cancer.

[mk9750 11]

I have spent the last 45 years trying to earn the right to be thoughtof as my Dad's son.

 

I have spent the last 19 trying to earn the honor of being remembered as my Sons' dad.

 

I hope someday to be successful at both.

 

Mark

[ozemu 10]

Big question.

 

Family: to be a good dad. Given that we are a foster family that is an interesting aim as most do not want a dad so I would settle happily for being a safe adult male maybe with a little bit of "mentor" about it but lets not hope for too much.

 

Scouting: I am but a link in a chain. Our Troop has a feeling about it which I know is largely due to my quirks and insistance. So therefor I see a legacy for the 20 plus young people (currently) of being a safe but stimulating group of friends. They mix so well compared to school and sport. They make me very proud but I think the pay off will be in the future. A legacy but not mine alone.

[evmori 11]

Son of God

Husband

Father

Volunteer

 

 

[johndaigler 10]

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Emerson didn't mean that you shouldn't be happy, but that you should find happiness in being useful, honorable, compassionate and in making a difference. No need to be grumpy, scoutldr, sounds like you're living and living well.

 

Find joy in each small victory, each boy's individual little successes. How can you be grouchy when you know that every time you gather together with a boy or boys, there's at least one small win for each of them. And for each of them, one small win for you.

 

Stop being greedy.

 

You're agitated that you can't fix all the problems and teach all the boys' by breaking through all the "ignorance, stupidity, laziness, carelessness, thoughtlessness, and selfishness"?? You've only been working at it for 49 yrs.. Giving up now just wouldn't be the Scouting way.

 

Don't let your legacy be: "He never understood how much good he did."

 

Life isn't like a hike in the woods; there's no such thing as "Leave No Trace". Every life we touch, we leave an impact, every life will be changed by what we bring to them.

 

I'm with Eamonn, . . . whether it's students, scouts, sons, wives, parents, cashiers at the supermarket, neighbors, colleagues, or unmet friends on the net: I hope that each life I've touched will be better for my being a small part of it. Some will remember me kindly, some won't. That's good enough for me, I think the "legacy" thing takes care of itself, when we take care of each other.

 

Peace

 

jd

 

 

[Shell in WA- USA 10]

My legacy I pray I will never know. I have a heart for service and good will. I walk kindly and gently with every step, taking time for anyone but especially children with any need or a moment of learning set aside. To open the eyes of the heart to our God and for them to appreciate the wonderous world around them. And when I do so, I try not to do it proudly or boastfully, but rather by quiet action and regular habit.

 

When I go home, I pray my God will say, "well done, my faithful servant." But for "my legacy," if a child grows up to be more loving and caring of the people around them; If they walk with a quicker step and a more open eye to the world around them; and if they take time for a child in their life; and if I get to hear God say to them "Well done, my faithful servant" that is when I'd be most blessed for "God's legacy" they were able to live.

[boleta 10]

2 years ago I saw a 28 year old woman in my office. She was being seen for some minor problem when I noticed a small mass in her left neck. After examining her, I found several swollen lymph nodes on both right and left sides. She told me her family doctor told her it was nothing to worry about. I had a frank discussion with her about what this might be and strongly encouraged her to let me take her to the OR and do a biopsy. The result was lymphoma (a cancer of the lymph system) and I referred her to an oncologist.

 

To my surprise, I received a letter from her today. I hadn't seen her since my referral to the oncologist 2 years ago. She wanted to thank me for finding the mass and insisting on the biopsy. She was cancer free after Chemotherapy that almost killed her. It felt great to know that I was partly responsible for saving her life.

 

So much of my identity is tied up in being a surgeon. It is also in being a Scouter and contributing to this great organization. My legacy is my wonderful family, the patients that I have had the opportunity to help, and the youth that we serve that are our future.

[Bob White 20]

That the communities I live in (from my immediate family, my neighborhood, my town, my profession and the brotherhood of scouting) felt that my efforts made a positive difference in their lives.