In the days after my father died, there were many quiet moments and many stories told. It was a small thing my mother said while crying over tea that allowed me to connect these small stories of my great-grandfather, my grandfather and my father. I never realized that they form a legacy I\u2019m a part of.<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n Legacy<\/p>\n My great-grandfather was a leather<\/p>\n smith. He made saddles for a feudal<\/p>\n baron in Russia. Chased by Cossacks<\/p>\n into the Dnieper River, he was spared<\/p>\n because they didn\u2019t want their horses<\/p>\n to get cold. In America, he would say,<\/p>\n \u201cWhen in trouble, wait till you see<\/p>\n a way out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n My grandfather was an out of work<\/p>\n printer in Brooklyn during the De-<\/p>\n pression. He\u2019d bring strangers home<\/p>\n for dinner. When grandma would<\/p>\n pull him aside with \u201cWe don\u2019t have<\/p>\n enough,\u201d he\u2019d kiss her cheek and say,<\/p>\n \u201cBreak whatever we have in half.<\/p>\n It will be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Now, my 93-year-old father bobs<\/p>\n inside his stroke-laden body, and<\/p>\n my mother shakes her head, \u201cI don\u2019t<\/p>\n know how he does it.\u201d She stares into<\/p>\n the trail of their lives, \u201cNo matter what<\/p>\n we faced, he\u2019d always say, \u2018Give me a<\/p>\n minute, and I\u2019ll figure out what to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I braid their lessons into a rope I can<\/p>\n use: to see a way out, to know there<\/p>\n will be enough, to figure out what<\/p>\n to do. Standing still in the river,<\/p>\n till we are shown how to stay<\/p>\n alive and give.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A Question to Walk With:<\/i> Describe one story or saying that comes from your birth family or your chosen family that has shaped your understanding of life.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the days after my father died, there were many quiet moments and many stories told. It was a small thing my mother said while crying over tea that allowed me to connect these small stories of my great-grandfather, my grandfather and my father. I never realized that they form a legacy I\u2019m a part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2540,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marks-weekly-reflections"],"yoast_head":"\n