Passion

Saw a line in the movie "Serendipity" and don't know if it's true or not but it was thought provoking to this man. One supporting character wrote obituaries for the news paper it was his line that made this man reflect on his own life.

The line was more or less.....

The Greeks didn’t write obituaries they only asked one question when a man died...

Did he have passion?

Had I lived in those times I would have been remember well. But having great passion does not always translate into success.

Not in this society.

As I've gotten older my hero in life has changed. If there is one man I could choose to be it would be my father.

He was a simple man, he did everything for his children, he worked each day till he had nothing left. He took great pride in his work doing his very best on each job, his work was his pride.

He came home and looked at you, he had three sons and a daughter. That look, he would always have a huge smile for a long time at times it confused me I couldn't match it and wondered what he was so happy about.

We would say, 'hi dad.' He loved to be called dad.

It wasn't until I was older that I realized how great his love was for his children and wife, that's what came out in his booming smile. Pure passion, today they could use the most complicated machinery in the world to measure all the energy in that smile that just exploded off his face.

My father, a stained glass window portrait I made of him 25 years ago, he was a great man, a man of great passion for his family.  He wasn't a scholar but he was a hero, he gave his all to his family.

My mother's smile was radiant, at times I saw the innocence of her youth many times on into age I saw a little girl in that old wrinkled face when she smiled. She was a very special woman with great passion, she ran the house and paid the bills but I don't think she was that way out of choice.

My father chose to be in the provider role although my mother had to work too. He brought in most of the bacon, while my mom had to pay all the bills, do the shopping, take you to the doctor and all that other stuff.

They each did their roles passionately, always look upon my childhood as a great blessing. We had hard times like most any other family had, but there was no abuse, just lots and lots of love. We all had our faults to some degree but we were proud to be Americans and on the right side of the law.

My brother died at 27 he was the hero of the family, I was the baby and 21 at the time. It was horrible going through that. A very passionate family losing a son, a brother, he really did have charisma my parents old Southern home named 'Twelve Oaks' was filled with friends and family for several days. Hundreds of people went to the funeral.

Perhaps something like this is harder on such a family. But there is no other family this man would trade for his own no matter how powerful, how rich, how influential. Passion comes from the soul, the deepest regions of the driving life forces within.

Some are driven in different ways, success can have the rewards from making your family proud of you, to being the provider for your own or the inner drive to achieve. Many things come with it.

But success without passion is empty. Live without passion is empty. Life can be a passion killer to too many. Perhaps that's why this man admires his parents so much, how he reflects back and misses childhood days, just one more supper with the family oh what I'd give for that.

I did not ask for passion, didn't know what it was when I was young, but now I am forever thankful for the passionate life that was given to me from my parents genes, their teaching and by accepting and loving their way of life.

The most important role a man and a woman will ever have in their life will be parenthood. Nothing else comes close. I hope your parents had as much love and pride as my family had.

take care