Debt of Gratitude to my Ancestors

​"But every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again. That is why every man's story is important, eternal, sacred." -- Hermann Hesse, Demian, p.1

I give thanks to my mother and father. And to my mother's mother and father. And to my father's mother and father. I give thanks to their respective mothers and fathers. And to their respective mothers and fathers. And so on and so on, as far into the past as to the beginning of evolution or to Adam and Eve themselves, howsoever God would have it.

I would not be here today if it were not for each and every one of those men and women, and the lives they led: the blood they sacrificed, the sweat they perspired, the tears they cried in joy and in pain; the injustices they suffered, the victories they won, and the dreams in their hearts and minds.

And the whole of it -- the vast history of humankind etched in nothing but our collective soul, documented not in any history book, but instead written in the blood in our veins -- has led to this moment in time.

May God grant me the grace to honor each and every one of you in some way, however seemingly insignificant, even if it takes several thousand separate and scattered moments in my lifetime to do so. I hope, at some point in time, if I haven't already, I can make each of you smile. :)