[clear]
I SPENT AN HOUR yesterday afternoon rocking my grandson Owen in my arms.
Mommy needed a nap like you wouldn’t believe. And I needed some Owen time. Win win.
Owen fussed while the two border collies in the house tried to herd me over to a ball they wanted me to pick up and throw.
Couldn’t they see I had my hands full?
I sat on the couch and without giving it any thought, I reverted back to almost three decades ago. I started singing a Native American lullaby that I used to sing to my kids.
I didn’t think about it. I didn’t say to myself, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if I sang for my grandchild the same song I used to sing to his mommy?”
I just sang.
“Down the stream, down the stream, all the days go…
Who can say, who can know, where the days go?”
I had to modify the chorus, subbing “Grandpa” for “Daddy.”
“Lullaby, my little papoose.
Grandpa is near you,
Nothing can harm you.”
As I sang, I felt a little stunned that the lyrics I hadn’t sung for decades suddenly came back so quickly and so easily…and that the words felt so right for the scene there on the couch in the home of my grown-up daughter and my son-in-law.
“An old man’s grandchildren are his crowning glory. A child’s glory is his father” (Proverbs 17:6).
First off, I’m not the heck an old man. I’m a teenager in spirit, whose body has been ravaged by gravity and climate change. But I get the gist of the proverb: It’s all about family.
I’m proud of my kids, and I hope they’re proud of me. I’m glad God added them to the herd of family and friends traveling with me through life.
When I’m gone, my kids and my grandkids will be the best of me that I’ll leave behind.
I don’t expect people will remember me for the books I’ve written or a one-liner here and there that might show up in a dictionary of oddball quotations.
I sure don’t expect them to remember me for these freebie blog articles.
In fact, I don’t expect many folks will remember me at all.
I was watching a movie with my son last week in his new man cave, and I asked him who he thought was one of the most famous actors of the day. “Brad Pitt,” he said.
“When your kids are your age,” I said, “they won’t know who Brad Pitt is.”
I could be wrong. But my kids didn’t know some of the most famous actors of my day. “Come on, guys, you’ve got to know John Wayne.”
One day my web page will be gone, my books out of print, my name forgotten among writers.
But my kids will remember me. My grandkids, too.
They are my best contribution to this world, my crowning glory, a legacy that outshines the pride I feel for any book I’ve written, any award I’ve won, or any polka I’ve played on my accordion.
For more about family
- Family time: whatever it takes
- Secret to a happy family
- “Family,” Complete Bible Handbook, pages 123-125
- “Family,” Complete Guide to the Bible, Student Edition, pages 54
Where NASA and the Bible agree
In case you missed the video I released on Tuesday, here’s the link.
Blog subscribers who win books this week
- Dave Lindsey
- Judy McKee
I give away free books each week.
Randomly selected subscribers to this free blog or to my free quarterly newsletter get the option of choosing my newest book: A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible – among about half a dozen other titles.
Beautiful, Steve!
Thanks, Steve.