Legacy

I caught the last half of Mr. Holland's Opus on Friday - my absolute favourite movie of all time.  There are many parts of that movie that have always resonated with me, but this time something new hit me.  The part where the music department gets cut and he is forced to retire hit me like an emotional punch to the gut.  I mean, I felt bad when I saw that part before, but this time it completely broke my heart.

Then yesterday, I was at my parent's house and noticed a wonderful formal portrait of my grandpa.  Grandpa Floyd was principal of the high school in High River in the 1960's.  He gave everything to his students until he took a stand and was forced into retirement by politics.  This picture hung in the hallway of that high school until this year and a kind teacher returned it to my parents because it was going to be thrown away.  THROWN AWAY!

How often must it happen that people give their heart, soul and lifetime effort to a purpose, wanting to leave a legacy and then have it callously underappreciated and in some cases completely discarded?  What must that feel like?

I feel wounded.  I know Mr. Holland had a happy ending but doesn't it kind of make you wonder about the endings for other people that this happens to?

And then I think, maybe it doesn't matter at all.  Maybe each individual feels the personal satisfaction of  a job well done and that's all they need.  I guess all good things must come to an end and time marches forward and new people and ideas come along to add their bit to the world.  But, I can't help but think that maybe we should honour legacies for longer.