It is Memorial Day and this is always a day of deep reflection for me. I have written about legacy before and spoke about Edward Bok and the legacy he left to the American people but I couldn't help but write again after I spent time in both his place of legacy and the legacy place of another man, Walt Disney, today. There are ways in which Walt Disney and Edward Bok are similar but the legacies they left behind are complete opposites even though they both sought to leave behind a happy place of safety for all to enjoy.
I wonder, often, how Disney would feel about what his legacy has become. But I don't wonder about Bok's legacy. Bok's children and grandchildren are working hard to make a difference in their respective realms in the world and the incredible sanctuary that Edward Bok gifted to the American people as thanks for what America had done for him remains one of the most glorious peace-filled and beautiful places that I have ever experienced. But Bok's offering is, for the most part, unknown. Though I talk it up to anyone who will listen, I find that few are interested in making the drive to see some plants and a tower with bells. Even my own family thinks me a wee bit nuts for my obsession with this place. I find no such problem getting people to want to visit Mr. Disney's place of legacy and I understand but I still ponder on this.
I love both of these men and both of their offerings. Both of their legacies have altered my life in endless ways. But I do see that I have reached a point in my life where Mr. Bok's sanctuary is my destination of choice when I am here in Florida. I wish I could explain it. But every time I try, I just babble and I can never find the right words to express just what this place means to me.
Thank you Mr. Disney for creating a place that has cemented our family and will continue to offer opportunities for love, growth, and fun for our family and subsequent generations.
Thank you Mr. Bok for creating a bit of heaven on earth. For giving me a place where I have to put in a wee bit of work but the rewards I gain for that work have allowed me a glimpse into the eternities.
The motto that Edward Bok's grandmother offered to him as he prepared to make the journey to America as a wee boy, "Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it,” is exquisite in both its simplicity and its scope.
I will never have the means to leave behind a legacy such as these two men left in their wake, but I can take Grandma Bok's words to heart and leave my children and the few others that God has given me some stewardship over a sense of priority, beauty, sanctuary, and peace and that is what I am striving for as I look towards winding up my life here on earth.
