When I Am Gone
As the age of my years catching up with me, I have become increasingly aware of my own mortality. I started to ask when I left. Will someone take care of or remember the life I was leading? Now that the years have taken their toll, I often sit alone while my conscious thoughts lead me back to a time and place far removed from the harsh realities of today. As I digress from the world of the now at the time when I have actually changed something, I wonder if it is important for the people I have touched on my way to remember the impact we both have on each other had. I also wonder if they know what impact they had on me. I think some had concerns about my way, and then I have no doubt about the positive impact we both had.
When I'm gone, this question is haunting me now. The profound meaning of life is based not only on the life we lead, but also on the way we interact within society itself. Have we been a contributor to the growth of mind, soul, and body, or have we interacted in ways that affected and suppressed the positive growth and positive changes that have occurred throughout life? I like to think that my life has a real meaning. Although the bittersweet moments that I had lingered in conscious thoughts. It is so sad that I was never there when my dad passed through the time when the gray turned white. I'm sure he too asked when I was gone.
A life without meaning and purpose is a flat existence without the true happiness of life. I consider myself so happy, though I did things to learn so much about the offerings of life. But I still ask when I'm gone. It is so sad when millions all over the world, when they are gone, do not even care. But the world keeps turning and life goes on.
For me, now that I am in the autumn of my years, there is still a restless spirit that hides in me. The soul search I have made has rekindled the flames of desire and the will to do more. With so much more to do, I strive for recognition in areas of knowledge where I can change the lives of many people. The obstacles and roadblocks that are always in the way have made it more important that there must be a way.
Undaunted, I continue to strive, and as old Professor Franklin said so many years ago, I too can make a difference. Making positive changes to improve the world is what we should all strive for. I have tried all my life to live up to these sacred words. Half successful, half still. I keep trying to make a difference. With so much experience behind me, the knowledge in me keeps me active. The thought of doing nothing now when so much is at stake is so strange that I have to go on. But there is still this infinite worry, when I am gone, will anyone care? Do you remember the good that I tried, or do you pass the time without even having a footnote in human history? I like to think that when I am gone, some will remember the good and not the bad.
