How to be immortal

November 18th, 2008 Posted in Day to Day

Last week I went to a remembrance day ceremony in Toronto. My great grandfather and twenty-one other soldiers were being remembered for their service in WWI with a giant mural at the Swansea Memorial Library. Arthur Thomas Allen was a bombadier who never came home. My grandfather never met his dad.

The mural was revealed following the service.  It depicted the history of the area and included a plaque for each of the twenty-two soldiers from the area who never came home, including my great grandfather.

My grandfather, Thomas Allen (the third), is now 92. During his life he has inspired and led a number of organizations from Scouts to Kiwanis to Ontario Hydro.  He’s been married to my grandmother, Eileen, for 64 years and they’re still going strong.

At the service there were a few of the old boys from his scout troop and it was great to watch them talk and reminisce. The thing I found most interesting was to see what these boys had done with their lives. David Crombie was the Mayor of Toronto, a federal MP and is still active in the political community. Norman McLeod led the creation of the Swansea WWI memorial mural and is a prominent member of the Swansea Community. Bill Tennison is still a Scout leader himself after more than 60 years in scouting. All are still very active in the community and regard my grandfather as the one of the people in their lives who inspired and influenced them.

I think this is one of my grandfather’s legacies. He has and still does inspire, motivate and entertain everyone he meets and every one of those people will always remember him for it.

This got me thinking. Is there anyone who I’ve encountered in my life who are now doing really huge things? Have my actions inspired them in any way? I can think of a few people and I think they know who they are. I’m really proud of the things they’re doing and I hope they keep it up. They’re changing the world.

To me this is what immortality is. Not the things that we collect and pass on to our survivors, not trying to physically live forever but the memories and the people that continue our lives beyond our physical lifespan. All those intangible, immeasurable things that are passed on through memory and story.

How about you? What will your legacy be?