Relics of Our Past

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tomorrow marks a brand new year: 2014. It's weird that my life spans two centuries. Someday my grandkids will talk about it--in their teen years: You were born in 1966, Grandma? Wow! You lived in the 1900's? That's so long ago! What was it like back then?

My dad has this chest that sits by his chair in the living room that is an old family relic. Supposedly when my great grandma was a little girl way back in the late 1800's, she came with her family to Oklahoma in a covered wagon. One of their pieces of furniture was that chest. Every time I see it I think about that fact and wonder what stories that chest has witnessed: Let's settle down here, Honey. I love the red dirt of Oklahoma. It feels like home.

It's a new day now, though. No more settling down in one place, raising your kids, marrying them off and having them settle next door. Now the sky is the limit. Families are often spread from one side of the USA to the other, but, thankfully, we have Skype and cell phones. Life is ever-evolving into something new and different; the landscape is changing, filled with new opportunity and growth.

Roy and I have moved quite a lot in our 26 years of marriage: Colorado, California, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Texas, Missouri, and now North Carolina. Meanwhile, my roots are in Oklahoma and have been for generations. When we were home last week for Christmas, I looked around at the wide open countryside and thought This feels like home. In fact, Savana even said, "Mom, you fit here. I can see it."

And it's true.  Oklahoma is in my blood; it's a part of me--red dirt, dry air, the wind blowing amuck. But the people are genuine and friendly. It's a good place and I'm proud that it's my heritage.

I wonder what relics will survive me that, someday, my children will pass on to their children: This belonged to your grandparents way back in the day when I was a child. We don't have much of value really--no ancient chests sit in my living room, holding family secrets. Our furniture is wearing down and will soon be traded in for something new. I don't have much in the line of jewelry other than a set of pearls my grandma willed to me. We have gone the way of commercialism with waves of new and old and then new again where material items are concerned.

But I do think that my kids have learned the value of family. Though they've been tossed around a bit as we've moved from one academy to another, they've grown from it and understand the wealth that comes from sticking together in new and sometimes difficult situations. They are kind people--my kids--and I am proud of that.

And so as 2014 is ushered in tonight and tomorrow marks a brand new year, I want to be more mindful of creating a legacy of joy for my family. I may not have valuable items to pass down once my journey on this planet is over; but hopefully my kids will have their own version of "relics" from our lives: the value of family, the knowledge that life is what you make it, the opportunity to discover joy in each passing day because, really, in the end, that's all we have.