PURPOSE

I remember when I was very young, maybe 4 or 5 years old, thinking that I was here for a reason. I was playing in the yard, down by a large pine tree, and I ended up sitting under that tree and thinking about things. At that time, I knew that I was on this Earth for a reason. I felt there was something important I would do some day, and I felt that strongly. As the years passed by, I thought that often.
I suppose by the time I was in my 40’s I started doubting that would ever happen, and the more time went by, the less chance I could see of ever making a difference to anyone.
About 3 ½ years ago, I married Evelyn. She is from the Philippines, a very poor country, and she grew up in a poor family. I wanted to find someone like her, someone I could give a better life to, someone who would love me and be my partner for the rest of my life.
A year ago, her oldest Niece was old enough to start college, which I am paying for. A while back I started thinking about making a difference to someone again. Maybe I can? As I was driving down the road one day, with little to do other than think, I started wondering if this might be what I was supposed to accomplish.
Let’s jump ahead 100 years now. In the Philippines, not far from Cebu City, there is a family reunion going on. This family has a reunion every year, but every 10 years they really go all out, and this is one of those 10 year reunions. There are family members here not only from the Philippines, but the USA as well. In the afternoon of the second day (this is a 3 day weekend event) when everyone is present, one of the older ladies brings out a few old photo albums, dog eared and well worn. She opens the oldest to the very first page, and there is a photo of her Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother Welanie. She was the very first in her family to go to college. There are a few photos of her, then some pictures of her Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Gary, who made this all possible. They paid for the first couple Nieces education, and after that, those Nieces helped the rest of their brothers and sisters along, and a whole family was soon shed of a life of poverty.
That would be a huge accomplishment, and with it would come immortality. I feel that as long as someone is remembered, then they are not really dead. I would be thrilled if I could look down…or more likely up…at that reunion and see Evelyn and I remembered in such a way. See our photographs being looked at by family a hundred years from now, and our names remembered.
So little Welanie’s education is costing me, and so much good it can do. In the little time I have spent in the Philippines, I see how hopeless life there is for many. There are so many good people that will never be able to break free of a life of poverty.
So maybe I’ve found my reason for being here. I can think of none more rewarding or worth while.