Can I create a legacy?

Furniture should last a long time. Decades. Centuries. Millenia? Some of it certainly has. But only if it is built well.

Trees certainly endure for a long time, barring any intervention from Mother Nature...or man.

To create a legacy though, something in which your work, your person, your hopes and dreams outlive you for generations, well, that seems like a much more difficult proposition.

This is my daughter Abigail, and her husband Hunter. They just got married on October 1. Ain't they cute?

No, they aren't the entirety of my legacy; they are just a great example of what I'm talking about.

These two certainly walk in my footsteps.

I put Hunter to work mowing and helping me mill logs....and every time my back is turned, he sneaks off to the shop to make something.

Ok, ok....yeah, he helps with my hairbrained ideas too. Here he is helping me out with my massive 10 planter project. He has a real talent for this stuff.

This is a cutting board he made. Beautiful attention to detail. I think he's probably a better wood worker than I am. He certainly could be if he stays with it the rest of his life. But he isn't the only one now of my brood. And the legacy will be different for each of them.

Oh yeah. Babs is still around, of course. I've taught her a few things. And she has put her natural talents to work in the shop too. Her eye for art and balance came in handy with the sign.

That's Cullen, my second son, driving some plugs in to cover screw holes. He is now a sophomore in college, and loves to play music, compete in marching bands, and discuss politics. Will he be a wood worker too? Maybe. But he will remember that his dad showed him a thing or two. Including how to use a chain and tractor to pull out fence posts.

Then there is Cullen's twin sister Ella. I can't seem to find any pics of her in the shop. How did she sneak out from that over all these years? Will she be a wood worker? Don't know. She also loves the competitive marching band world and actually beat her brother to the punch with making it to a corps. She's studying botany at the University of Wyoming and loves plants. One of the areas at Tumblewood that I am experimenting with to see if I can restore native habitat reminded me of Ella. So I named it Ella's Meadow. She is my confidant when I get super excited when I find a new plant or flower or tree species on Tumblewood!

Ella also did this for me.

Cool huh? I don't think Ella cares at all about milling logs. But she cares that I care, and that means more to me than anything.

Then there's this guy:

He's a New York attorney now. He had to bear the brunt of many projects of mine. He's the firstborn son though...it's his birthright. But Emmett has also said to me, “I can't believe how many people around me don't know how to handle tools, or get stuff done. Thanks for teaching me that, Dad." Oh man. Does that ever feel good. And...he developed a love for fishing along the way too. Will he be a wood worker? Don't know. Doesn't matter. He is legacy.

Then there's this bunch:

That's my oldest daughter Megan, holding Olivia, and her husband Danny holding Piper. Or it could be Megan holding Piper and Danny holding Olivia. Honestly, I have no idea. But Piper and Olivia are the next generation. What will my legacy be for them?

I hope it is many things. I hope they look at a table someday and say, “My grandfather built that." Or maybe look at part of Tumblewood that has been restored to native habitat and think about how their grandfather cared enough about the land to do good things on it. Maybe they and their cousins will someday remember fishing in the lake, or hiking through the property and stopping to smell a wildflower or some Mountain Mint. Maybe someday they will take their own children into a woodshop and teach them how to make a simple cutting board with just a few hand tools...something they learned from me. Will they be wood workers? Don't know. They are legacy.

You see, a legacy goes beyond the things we make or the things we do. It's doubtful that I will ever go down in the annals of history as a great furniture maker. Your legacy lives in how you are remembered. And when I am gone, I want my legacy to be the things I loved, the things I did well, the things I taught others, the things I held sacred, the Hope that I held, and the love that I gave....which has been far less than the love I have received, I admit.

What will your legacy be? You're building it now whether you know it or not. Build it well. That's what we're trying to do.