What is the legacy I want to leave behind?
Pretty weighty question.
I have been having some heavy thoughts of late. “Dust in the Wind” came on over the speakers at work; I remembered hearing it in the hospital when we were visiting my aunt, just before she passed. I’d heard the song when my mom and I took a break to grab something to eat. I’d had a salad.
Thinking of my cousins today, who’ve already lost their mom, and holding them in my heart. Also cognizant that I won’t always be able to be there for my daughter. One day, I’ll be gone.
I think the most important thing for me to leave behind isn’t something in any way tangible. I want my daughter to know she’s unconditionally loved and supported. I want her to know her own worth.
Everything else is just gravy.
Sure, I’ll have some poems and stories out in the world, that may outlast me, and some journals which may or may not ever be read. I asked kiddo once if she thought she’d go through them. She said maybe she’d read a little but that it would probably get pretty depressing. And reading isn’t as much her thing as it is mine.
Likewise, I hope any friends, and other family members, I leave behind know how much I cared.
But let us hope for many, many more years during which to share love and laughter, and creative whimsy. I have some aspirations as yet to achieve, and (hopefully) many poems and stories and works of art left in me.
All the Bright and Sparkly Things 
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