Service to remember

There was a funeral for a famous person the other day and hundreds of people were there to pay their last respects. It is quite a testimony to that life they lived. People attend who know them, admired them, and whose life has been touched by them. One can deduce that this person’s memory will last and last.


But what about those people who die “alone”? Those who don’t have many friends or family? When you outlive most of your friends, who will be there to pay their last respects? Is the value of a person determined by how many people attend your funeral or by the lasting memory cemented in the minds of your peers and family?

Hundred of years from now (sooner than that I am sure), I will not be remembered. Oh, there might be a headstone bearing my name. And you might find my name on a website when doing a history search regarding me, but there will probably be nothing else. What will anyone remember about me?

Thousands, no millions, of people have come and gone from this earth throughout time, and most of them have no one to be remembered by. No great accomplishment they did. No lasting legacy they left. No one. Nothing.

Perhaps, though, they have been remembered. Perhaps their anonymity was noticed. Perhaps, those that seem the least influential have somehow made the most difference in the lives of people and in the shaping of the world. I hope so. I want to be one of those people.

My vanity speaks to me saying, “You are a warm and caring person. Look at all the lives you have helped or influenced.” But I can’t think of any. Better get busy, then.