Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
There is no greater legacy that we can leave our children and grandchildren than a peaceful and safer world. Ted Turner
Rain starts to fall last night as I plant some flowers. It doesn’t continue, so I do and get the border planted. Will it become the border I envision with purple spikes of salvia? I didn’t go to the store looking for salvia, but salvia and marigolds were on sale, four plants for ninety-nine cents. How could I pass up that deal?
Tonight I will chair the second Toastmasters meeting I’ve attended in person since March 2020. It will be a night of humorous speeches and lighthearted fun. We need nights like this where laughter is the order of the day. I will try and keep my comments and introductions light and funny. Humor isn’t my strong suit, but one thing I’ve found over this past couple of years as I’ve worked on humorous speeches (they were supposed to be funny, but often weren’t). When we are in person it is easier to give a funny speech than on zoom. When we give a speech on zoom if we look into the camera we don’t see any audience reaction at all.
My husband gave a great and funny speech at our son’s wedding. If I could pull off speeches that are that funny I would love it. If I could make my blog posts funny that would be great. To be funny and thought-provoking is a great combination but I hope I am at least thought-provoking.
The more we read and the more we write the more we develop our thoughts and the more we develop and examine our thoughts the more we grow as a person. My husband tells me I think differently (he doesn’t mean it as a compliment, but I take it as one). He could think I don’t think at all. Some of my thinking doesn’t make a better more harmonious relationship as my thoughts and his don’t always align. Sometimes we have interesting conversations but sometimes we are too far apart for good conversation.
We owe it to each other – and to our children and grandchildren – to leave our planet in a better state than when we found it. Christopher Dodd
We have to be willing to have difficult conversations, about difficult subjects. Sometimes I feel I should just be quiet, after all, silence can’t be miss-quoted. It can however be misinterpreted as if we don’t want to talk and we are the only people we have to talk to a lot of the time. We don’t work in an office with colleagues, it’s just us.
Our little grandson provides a lot of joy, conversation, and levity. We are blessed to see him each day; he has already changed so much in two months. It’s like we’ve never watched a baby develop even though we raised two to adulthood. One of his smiles makes us smile, how he looks so intently at things makes us wonder what he sees and thinks about, and we watch that smiling face become a pout in an instant.
Babies really do bring joy, and not having to do the caring for them makes us enjoy them all the more. We are already looking ahead to seeing him on the soccer field. We tell ourselves he will be an early reader. We have expectations for him that may never be met. We will have to temper these over the years. Our lives have opened up by becoming grandparents in ways we didn’t know would happen. We can now have dreams for this new life, we share our great expectations, and we bask in the glow of our growing family.
We now have a stake in not just the next generation but the one after that, and the one after that. We question the stewardship of what we were given and what has been done with it. How can we make the world but especially our part in it better for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren? What is the inheritance we will be passing down? Are we planting trees whose shade we will never sit under? Will our grandchildren and great-grandchildren say, “Thanks gramps and gran?” or will they say, “Why did you use up everything and leave nothing for us?”
Let us not be blind to our differences – but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal. John F. Kennedy
The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money – but rather a legacy of character and faith. Billy Graham
The most precious jewels you’ll ever have around your neck are the arms of your grandchildren. Unknown
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
To subscribe, comment, and see archives or categories of posts click on the picture and scroll to the end.
Thank you to everyone that reads my books. A special thank you to those that leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. If you click on the Amazon link and purchase an item I receive a small percentage of the purchase price through the Amazon Affiliate program.
