Leave Something Behind EDITORIAL

LIBERTY, May 8, 2010 – Life is very short. We are only here for a brief time and the world goes on with out us. When I think about this I’m reminded of a speech given by Dr. Alma Allen a few months ago on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King.

The theme of her speech that day was that she was seeking someone to take up the cause of Dr. King. She was seeking a job applicant for a job that’s been vacant for forty years.

One of the qualities necessary for the job was that the candidate be able to write well. Dr. Allen suggested that we may want to put your writings in a archive, to have a record of what you said and thought, so that someday others would be able to retrieve those documents and learn about what you thought and who you were.

This is an important thing for all of us to do and think about. We all have a legacy of some sort and we need to document what we do, what we think, and who we all are.

It is really a tragedy to live an entire life and leave nothing for friends, family and others to remember you by. It’s important not to leave your legacy only in the minds and memories of those who survive you but leave documents in all forms as a record of your time here on this earth.

Look at the efforts people put into genealogical research discovering their ancestors and the lengths they go to in order to discover who their ancestors were and learn something about them. Sometimes they discover and come across the documented legacy of some ancestor. They discover writings or other records the ancestor made while they were alive and to those seeking such information these discoveries are like finding treasure.

It reminds me of a song by Billy Dean titled, “Only Here for a Little While.”

Here’s the video of the song.

We are only here for a little while so spend your time well and leave us a record that will survive you so that we can look back and learn of you, your time and what you did. Do not just rely on the feeble human memories of others. Make your record while your still here.

By Allen Youngblood

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