New Sneakers
I bought new sneakers this week. I finally tossed out my old, worn pair. Neither thing is really blog worthy or thought provoking. When I tossed out the old ones, I tried to remember when I bought them. I realized I bought them in 2001.....
Today would have been Indy's 4th birthday (it always leads to Indy, if you read my blog you should know that). It was a really surreal thought to realize that this old pair of shoes had a longer life than my sweet angel.
Legacy
There have been many times in my life that I have wondered about the legacy I will leave behind. For most of society their children are their legacy. When I realized I wouldn't have children, I wondered what I would leave that would show that I was indeed on the planet for a while. I think I got my answer today when I attended my Uncle Walter's wake.
Like me, he had no children to carry on his legacy. Yet, he still left his mark. The first thing anyone mentions about him is that he was a good man with a generous heart. The very next comment is always about the animals. People say he had "a way" with animals. A special gift.
As family members sat around talking and sharing stories, I was reminded of some of my favorite stories about Uncle Walt and animals.
Uncle Walt didn't allow hunters on his property. One year someone was hunting a turkey in his field. He caught the person in the act, but the turkey was already injured. He took it inside and nursed it back to health. The wild turkey became a house pet to him. He even taught it to use the litter box!
Then there was another time when my brother had gone up to the house to do some work for my Uncle. Just as my brother was about to get out of the car, a skunk came up and walked under another parked car. My brother refused to get out of the car until the skunk was gone. Uncle Walt came out to the car to see what was going on and when he was told of the skunk, he said that it had been hanging out there for a few days. He called to the skunk and it walked right out to him and let him pet it.
As much as I love animals and have pretty much devoted my adult life to them, I don't think I will ever have the natural charm with animals he had. Never the less, I think I will have left my mark with what I have done to help animals, and like my uncle, that will be my legacy as well.
