What am I going to do today?

By Dan Barber

I believe that I added to my immortality today by sitting on a park bench with my 2-year old grandson for a half-hour while he was breathing in and out on a harmonica and we watched a man ride back and forth on a riding lawn mower cutting the park’s grass.

What? You might ask. It’s true because when I was a child some of my most favorite activities were just hanging out with my grandfather. I remember one time when we went to a bowling alley, not to bowl, but just to watch others bowl while we ate an ice cream cone. Another memory with my grandpa that has stuck in my head was when I was helping him rake up leaves and how good it felt when he told me that I was doing a good job.

I believe that we can live on in the memories of our family and friends for a very long time, and hopefully they will pass on those memories to others.

I truly enjoy collecting the memories of the times I have spent with my family and friends. I can now sit quietly while remembering those good times over and over again. Sometimes my wife will ask me, “What are you grinning about?”

Often you hear people reminiscing about the “good old days.” They are only recalling the good times during those days past. The bad memories are suppressed. When I was in the Navy, some of my duty stations were miserable, but when I left those miserable places I missed them. But, I soon discovered when I returned to those miserable places they were still just as miserable as when I was there. What I missed were the good memories I had of the people that I served with in those miserable places.

I have seen so many people searching for their purpose in life they will ask, “why am I here… what is my purpose? It is quite possible that our souls don’t belong to ourselves but to our families and friends. If that’s the case, then we need to not be so selfish by asking, “What’s in it for me” when we go about our lives and our inter-action with others. We should be looking for ways to help or serve others without expecting anything in return. The only thing that I expect is the love, appreciation and respect I get from my family and friends. I will never ask for recognition, I have always felt that if you have to ask someone for that, then it is not worth having.

I think that it would be a living hell not to have freely given love, appreciation and respect from others.

My father was right when he told me in a dream a couple of weeks after he passed away that he was having the best time in Heaven because he was getting to relive all of the best times of his life over and over again as if it were the first time.

Leave your family and friends with only good memories as your lasting legacy.