Monday, February 12, I got the phone call everyone dreads. My father, aged 81, had passed away in his sleep that morning.
What I’ve learned since my father’s passing was the incredible impact he had on everyone he encountered. I knew him as a generous, kind, compassionate and loving man. What I failed to realize was how far his well-lived life managed to reach.
In the week since his passing, the stories continue to come in. What particularly intrigues me is the impact he had on my childhood friends. People who remember his impact decades later; enough to want to pay their respects and share their memories. It’s been nothing short of amazing.
This episode is my feeble attempt to convey what I believe to be the secret to legacy. Every little action we take individually is just that. Little.
However, as they accumulate over the course of our lives, they compound. As they do, their impact grows exponentially.
Take any single day from my dad’s life, and you’ll see ordinary. The accumulation of those days, however, is nothing short of extraordinary.
I invite you to join me as I honor my dad.
Jeff, I am so sorry for your loss. Your father leaves a legacy of kindness and love and that is no small thing. Thank you for sharing this, I am deeply touched by your words and those who added their thoughts. What a poignant and beautiful tribute.
Wow, Constance. Thank you so very much for that. I appreciate your kind and thoughtful words.
Thank you, Jeff, for being so open and vulnerable in sharing with us what your father meant to you and to others and for calling out the need for reconciliation when it depends on us. It sounds like your dad was an ambassador of God’s Love. What an honor and privilege for you to have been fathered by a man like Joe! I pray God comfort you in both the loss and the joy of his last breath on earth and first one in heaven. I am sure you will do him justice as you carry on the torch of legacy.
Thank you, Danielle.