Legacies

Maybe it's different for people with children -- they have built-in legacies. But, I'm noticing a trend among some of my childless peers. With statistically more days behind than ahead, they're starting to think about what they will leave behind.

It's something Spouse 1.0 has been thinking about for years, though he hasn't used the actual word "legacy." He wants to leave something behind of lasting importance. Some written work.... some change in how people think about technical documentation.... something.

Childless friends who have done a fair amount of short-term mission work and overseas teaching did use the word "legacy" when describing how they want to leave behind lasting changes in people's relationship to God.

Other childless friends have dedicated their entire working lives to leaving behind Bibles translated into three languages, literacy, and changes in how Bible translation is done.

Notoriously passionate coworker "X" hasn't explicitly said anything about legacies, but another coworker explained: This project is her legacy.

Oh.

Wow. No wonder she gets a bit worked up about it. This isn't just a task the corporate gods are paying her to do. It's... well, her immortality.

That's what legacies are, when it comes down to it. Your chance for some part of you to live on when you're no longer alive. Immortality -- at least of an earthly sort.

In 2007, when I was interviewing for department transfer, one interviewer asked me to describe a portrait that I would leave as a legacy to my descendents. I didn't bother telling him there weren't any descendents. It was irrelevant.

This was harder than the "What do you expect to be doing in ___ years" question.

Oddly, I've never expected any part of me to live on when I'm gone. Certainly, I like my work and try to do my best. I like helping improvements happen. But, I don't believe that any change I could usher in would ever be of lasting significance.

Maybe my legacy-indifference is because I'm not yet 50. When you're 40-something, you double that, and you're still under 100. Living into one's 80's and 90's is not unusual nowadays. But, 100 still is a rare age. So, at 50, you really do have to start accepting your mortality. And, from there, seeking your earthly immortality.