One night about six months ago I found a copy of Cicero’s On A Life Well Spent that
had been on a shelf for some time - perhaps it was one of the many books that,
unsolicited, Dad sent me over the years just because he thought they would interest
me - or perhaps because his devotion to books exceeded his available storage
space.
Cicero wrote a very short introduction and it was immediately clear to me that it
summarized both Dad’s life and the way I viewed him. It provided me with great
comfort as I have reread it several times over the following months reflecting on
Dad, his failing health and how the way that we measure a life that deserves
admiration is universal. I repeat it here as my memorial to him.
The best armor of old age is a well spent life preceding it; a life employed in
the pursuit of useful knowledge, in honorable actions and the practice of
virtue; in which he who labors to improve himself from his youth will in age
reap the happiest fruits of them; not only because these never leave a man,
not even in extreme old age; but because a conscience bearing witness that
our life was well spent, together with the remembrance of past good actions
yields an unspeakable comfort to the soul.
We will both go on with our lives, missing him as the constant that has always been
there - but just as surely we will wonder at the good fortune that gave us such a
father. Dick
No comments:
Post a Comment