Tim Russert was a noted television journalist who recently died of a heart attack at the age of 58. I confess that I didn’t watch him much as I don’t watch much TV these days and I certainly don’t watch on Sunday mornings when he hosted Meet The Press. However, the times I did see him I liked what I saw and he just wrote a book about his Father and another about Fatherhood which I have considering reading. But when I read about his “wake” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC I learned a great deal more about the man.

The Clintons were there. John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Condi Rice, Madeleine Albright, Maria Shriver and countless other DC notables were there. They came to demonstrate their respect and affection for a man who made a life in politics and political reporting by being a true patriot. Tom Brokaw started the proceedings by hoisting a Rolling Rock and saying the day would be done “Irish style..some tears, some laughs and the occasional truth.” Ya gotta love that!

So what do Tim Russert and a Rolling Rock have to do with you? This is the classic legacy question. How do you want to be remembered? What kind of an impact do you make on people every day? Do you project a positive image and a welcoming face or are you negative with a sour demeanor? Are you so busy hurrying through life that you don’t have a moment to pause and consider this eternal question? I confess on the bad and busy days when I am crabby it is a question I don’t want to answer but I know I must. I must consider the answer because I have children who are looking at me and I have audiences who expect me to live up the principles I speak about. I confess, I am human and I don’t always get it right. But I strive for progress as I know I will not attain perfection. Progress towards a legacy. I cant define the legacy but I can tell you that I hope my friends raise a beer in my honor at my wake.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 12:38 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.