Dor l'va Dor

I often write about traditions and what I see as truisms in life. The title of today's piece is from the Hebrew, Generation to Generation. It speaks, at least to me, of our human need to connect with the world. For some, that connection comes from a belief in a higher being. For many, the more tangible connection is to family.

Take the two old codgers, Joe and Miriam, pictured above. He is 90 years old, and they have been married for over 120 years. During that time, they managed to produce two so-so sons and a marvelous daughter (the youngest son was almost born on Christmas day, in which case Joe and Miriam would have named him Jesus. He wasn't, however, and ended up with the moniker, Dennis...but I digress).

Their children have married, and the two sons have only produced more boys....oh, well. Their daughter, on the other hand, married well and has given her wonderful husband two fantastic daughters. All these offsprings, of course, are Joe's and Miriam's grandchildren...and there are great grandchildren on the way.

Their son in law's parents are long gone, and Joe and Miriam have been the only grandparents the two girls have ever really known. And what a blessing that has been for them. From grand parent to parent to grand child the stories and the teachings of life have been passed. Because of them, my daughters have had two wonderful role models of right living, charitable giving and firm but loving discipline. I suspect that it will serve them well when they have children of them all.

This all came to mind as I did some writing about the traditional padddling camp held by QAJAQ USA and how knowledge was shared and passed along from one paddler to another. Then, I came across this picture of my in laws and immediately thought of the connection and how they too have passed along their experience and love from generation to generation. My wish and hope is that my generation does as well.

Paddle safe...

DS