On looking back

Come next week and I would have been in this world seven score and four years .This is a blessing indeed and I have much to be thankful for.At least I am in relatively good health able to eat , sleep and walk like a person should.On looking back i believe that I have lived a good life having gone through the good , the bad and ugly and it has been an enlightening and enriching experience. If I were to ask myself " Have you left any footprints in the sand or stone ?" I would answer " yes" at least in the thoughts of family, friends and above all my students who passed through my hands by the thousands.As a father and husband the family has always been of prime importance and there was nothing that mum and I would not do for the family.Achievement ? We can proudly say that we put our four girls through university and instilled in them certain values which we think will carry them through life . Being remembered ? We wonder what our children , grandchildren and all those whose lives we touched one way or another think of us when we are no longer around.We have no legacy other than the code we have lived by.Mum and I have always put the interest and well being of the family first and ours come later. I will not leave this world a rich man in the sense that i will be able to leave my children and grandchildren loads of money.We are not rich by worldly standards but we have enjoyed and are enjoying a kind of wealth which no amount of money in the world can buy.We have brought up 4 girls, see them grow into adults and see them start families of their own.We are blessed to be able to see the whole process of them growing from childhood to adulthood and sensible ones at that. We started life with practically nothing and today we have all the materialistic things which people work for , house ( albeit) a small one but nevertheless some place we can call home, car , clothes, a bit of money to spend as we wish but our real wealth, and we consider ourselves very rich in this ...is that we have good health , a good family and above all each other.We are very rich in this respect and hence if looking at this perspective , I would have led a god life and certainly left some footprints. Educating my students and seeing them grow into adults gives me no regrets for choosing to be a teacher.Humble though the profession is it has made an impact on the lives of many young people.I remember one particularly problem student and I spent time with him trying to set him right.Two years ago at the Old Boys Dinner he came back from Australia where he now resides specifically to look for me and tell everyone how I managed to change his life .this is the kind of wealth which money cannot give and it is one of the reasons why I have never regretted being a teacher. Going through life the hard way has made us stronger , more tolerant and more understanding.To me, my legacy and my hope to be remembered by " He was a good father, grandfather, friend and teacher " That will be the footprints which I leave behind !