Legacy Not Lost

This week I was blessed to have my Mama and Daddy come to visit and share in some big events in my sons’ lives.  We watched the last parade we will ever see Daniel, a college senior, march in with his band.   It was a bittersweet moment as my heart swelled with pride to see him march past.  I followed the band for a short distance, wanting to capture the moment, to somehow hold it and make it last forever, but time, just like the band, marches on, and soon they were out of sight. 

Daniel and I have spent many hours together on band trips and at competitions. (Yes, I am that crazy mom in the stands who claps and screams for the band.)   I understand his love for marching because I experienced that same thrill when I was in high school.  What a moment it must have been for my father, who also marched in a band, to watch his baby watch her baby march for the last time. It made me look ahead and wonder if I will have the chance to someday see a grandchild march like he has.  Will that love be passed to the next generation?

This weekend we also saw Joshua play the lead role of the Cat in the Hat in his high school’s production of Suessical the Musical.  As we laughed at his antics on stage, I again saw a son following in a grandparent’s footsteps.  My mom was the lead in many plays during her high school years.  I can still hear her voice when she sang to me when I was young and can close my eyes and see her on stage as clearly as if I had been sitting in the audience.  I know that in a very real way she was up on that stage with Joshua.

This weekend I also took my parents to see my health club and shared with them the lifestyle changes I have made.  They both have been great role models of a healthy life style, but in the past discouragement made me abandon their example.  I realized this weekend that it is never too late to restore.  I am determined that my new approach to nutrition and fitness will honor them and the love that motivated their example.  Marching in a band - Starring in a musical….two events that were extremely significance because they were firmly rooted in legacy and love.  It is my new mission to add health and fitness to that list.  I plan on someday being that grandma who watches my broccoli-eating, active grandchildren march in a band or be in a play.  Tomorrow I work out to show tunes and Sousa!