What a Legacy

In 100 years you probably will be forgotten, but what will you leave behind?

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“This is the kind of day Grandpa would have liked.”

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This was the text message I sent to my dad along with a picture of an excavator last month as our front yard’s pebble driveway was being transformed into a concrete driveway. Every time we do a large project at our house, my dad gets one of these messages from me. Grandpa was a blue-collar man who loved a good project. For fun, he used to pick old vacuum cleaners out of the dumpsters at his apartment complex, fix them, and resell them. When he died, we were going through his possesions, including his senior yearbook listed his favorite hobby as "tinkering."?

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Let’s just say that Grandpa loved himself a project.

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After I sent that message to my dad, I paused and thought about the legacy he had left. Many people I come across are concerned about the legacy they’ll leave behind for their families, friends, and our society. As someone with a pragmatic mind and a tilt towards comedy, my thoughts are somewhat more morbid.

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Because in 100 years, very few to no one will likely remember me. I am not upset by this fact. I don’t think it’s unfair to me and what I am trying to do. It’s just reality. Quick pop quiz:?

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Give me 5 of the greatest legacies left by people from the 1920’s!

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Maybe you are a history nerd and you could rattle them off, shattering my point. But my guess is you could probably get to a couple. Don’t feel bad, you are making my point for me. Time will fade all of us away as we are replaced by the future generations, as they have for thousands of years, and as it will (hopefully!) be for thousands more years.

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But that doesn’t get you off the hook! Because thinking of the legacy the modest life my grandfather left behind has helped me realize that while we may not be remembered, our legacy will be felt by the actions we took.

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There are many ways to leave a poor legacy: lying, cheating, abusing your friends and family, neglecting your responsibilities. These are just small time negative legacy builders for the average person. I’m not even counting the horrors people in power have done and left!

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But when I thought about Grandpa, and how when a challenging project or hard work had to be done his memory popped into my head, all I could think was:

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“What a legacy!”

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Because he demonstrated how a person should go about their profession and lives. Working hard to take care of his family and the tasks he needed to do. I know because he passed that work ethic onto my dad who passed it along to me. Jenks men, we just can’t sit still! Grandpa, my dad, and myself were/are always working on something. My dad and I can’t profess to have the same blue-collar skills at fixing and projects as Grandpa did, but Dad worked 2 or 3 jobs out of necessity and enjoyment as a teacher, coach, and swim instructor.

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For me? I am a pharmacist, author, speaker, and comedian. Always trying to work on something new, albeit in a much more white-collar way than grandpa did.

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And whatever it is you do, while you may not leave a famous legacy (or if you are a famous person reading this and will be leaving a famous legacy, send me a message! I promise I’ll only make it a little weird), you can still leave a positive legacy by the way you live, work, and interact with the world. Grandpa was born in 1930, but here we are almost 100 years later and his life is still rippling through in my father’s and my actions and approach to life. While the history books won’t remember Harry Jenks, his impact on the world will be large nonetheless.

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It can make us feel incredibly small, yet incredibly powerful understanding what kind of impact and legacy we can leave. And while it may not be a huge pile of money, or some of the greatest writing works of all time, your life and actions can leave a legacy you can be proud of.

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What a legacy, indeed.

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