by C Kedor

Created on: September 12, 2008

I think it is only natural to wonder how you will be remembered. I learned at an very early age, however, that it doesn't matter what career you pursue or if you do something that will change the course of history but rather if you are a real, genuine good person. You see, at the tender age of eleven I looked out upon the people that congregated at my father's funeral and saw many unfamiliar faces out there. All of them, nevertheless, had a story to tell about my father which usually always concluded with what a good man they thought he was. Even years later people would sing his praises to me making it even that more important that I try to fill his shoes, and be just as real and genuine as he was.

How do I remember my dad? I remember him simply as being not only a good person but importantly an excellent father. I find myself even today grateful that he was in my life even if for just that little while. To the world he may have only been a number but to me he was my world. To me, he had hung the moon and even as a grown up I still believe that. As a father, his heart was always in the right place and he always tried to do right by all of us kids even when he thought that he had nothing left to give.

The first time I held my son was a bitter sweet moment for me. I too was a parent now and I now held a new title. I was now a mother and I had someone that was going to look towards me for guidance. I had the most important job of showing him the right way and teaching him the lesson that my father had taught me, be pure of heart. I needed to be just that, one of the good guys so that I could carry this legacy on for my son. I needed be that person that he could come to love and trust, his rock.

Even now when T.J. and I are enjoying a quiet moment on the couch. Just watching him as he coos, smiles or even laughs reminds me that in the end the love that I impart to him is all that matters. There have been several times that I have felt that I have nothing left to give in these past few months but as I look at my now three month son, I know that he has no doubt that I still do. He just looks at me with those big blue eyes and looks at me to fulfill my promise to always give him that unconditional love that every child deserves.

If that falls short of convincing me of my potential as a mother, however, my husband then looks at me with his blue eyes smiling at me just as he did the day our son was born. A proud husband and father he has never doubted once in my abilities as a mother. A man who has not only loved me enough to say I do has entrusted me to share the miracle of bringing a new life into this world. With this being the most precious gift he could have ever given me, I know that I can carry on my father's legacy and be a good person; a good wife and mother above all.

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