Leaving a Legacy

Warning, this may not be a very interesting post to most. It doesn't contain any pictures or cute stories about Sadie. So proceed with caution!

Daniel and I have been talking recently about the point of blogging. We originally started the blog to be able to update our family and friends far, far away about everything that is going on with Sadie. I think I also did it for selfish reasons because the blog was a means of expressing myself a bit, I guess. Well, as time has gone on, we know, for the most part, the handful of people who read the blog because you guys call us or email us when something out of the ordinary happens. This handful of folks includes my mom, sister, and brother (of course!) and a few very good friends...we love you guys for reading! So we feel comfortable with most everything we put on here. Though something that has been bothering me for a while is that I feel a little selfish to continually go on about Sadie, as if we think our child is more important, more special, more wonderful, etc. than other babies. So we've tried to write about other things. In the process of doing that, I again feel selfish, as if we think our lives are interesting enough to share. There have been many times where I've thought about cancelling the whole blog thing all together. Those are generally the times when you'll see a lull in posts. What is the purpose? We really only have a handful of readers, and we could easily just send those few people pictures and updates via email.

Well, as it is, Daniel and I discuss the blogging subject from time to time. We talk about new topics for posts. We talk about if we really have anyone reading our blog. We talk about the purpose. We have come to one conclusion....won't this be an interesting collection of writings for Sadie to read one day? Won't it be neat (for lack of a better word) for us to read about our life when we were new parents. Won't it be wonderful to reflect on Sadie's first years when she is graduating from high school?

When we were in Texas in January, we went to a small cocktail party at Daniel's grandmother's (Naunie's) house the night before Daniel's cousin's ordination. One of Naunie's dear friends had flown in from California for the ordination and was talking about all kinds of interesting topics. She grew up in the Philippine's, the daughter of some sort of dignitary, and had a very interesting life. However, as Daniel's mother and Naunie were sharing their own stories, Naunie's friend (for the life of me I can't remember her name! So sorry about that...) kept speaking of the importance of "leaving a legacy" as she called it. She spoke of how important it is to write down stories from your life for you children and children's children to read. As she said, once we pass on, there is no one there to carry on our legacy (and our family's legacy) if we haven't shared it with them.

How many times have I thought, I wish I knew more of how my grandparents fell in love. I wish I knew more about when my parents were children. I even wish I knew more about when I was a child or in high school. It's amazing the things you forget in just 15 years! I have really enjoyed hearing my mom's stories during the last year about when each of us children (me and my three siblings) were born. At the same time, there are definitely things that my mom doesn't completely remember, because really why would you? So many wonderful memories have come and gone since then.

Since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to write in a journal. I took a stab at in junior high, but quickly realized my sister was reading it, and so I quit....just like that! I wrote a little in a pregnancy journal, but oh how I wish I had done a better job. I think I quit halfway through the pregnancy because I was so worn out and there were so many other things to think about and do.

So here we are. We have successfully chronicled much of Sadie's first year. We don't claim to be interesting. We don't claim that other new parents aren't experiencing the same exact moments that are just as special with their babies. We don't claim that anything about our life is more important than the next family's. However, we have finally realized the purpose of why we have been driven to write this blog. Yes, we still want our family (in particular) to be able to keep up with us and know what we're doing from day to day since we don't get to see them regularly. However, we know now the importance of leaving a legacy, especially for Sadie and any siblings she may have in the future. How special these memories are!