I don’t remember exactly when it happened but I do remember the very first time my mother, the lovely Shelley Staniforth, introduced herself to her new great-granddaughter Olivia by saying, “Hello Olivia. I am your ancestor.” Of course we all mentioned to Mom at the time that people don’t usually get called an ancestor until they’ve passed on. Yeah, mom knew that. And her response to our correction has been to repeat it every time she has seen Olivia … for years.
Yes, as you may have guessed, my mom is a hoot.

But wouldn’t you know, as is the often the case with moms, there is something weirdly right about embracing the role of ancestor long before her time. I mean, why not? We receive so many of our trajectories, so many of our stories from our ancestors. Why not start passing things on while you still have skin in the game and can do something to insure your tribe inherits the best of yourself, and not the worst.

And it turns out Mom is in good company. The only other person I’ve ever known to refer to themselves as an ancestor was the great virologist and developer of the world’s first polio vaccine, Jonas Salk, who once said, “Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.”

What he meant of course was we each have a responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. Hmmm, it seems to me not many of us believe we really can. Life is short, and we—so keenly aware of our smallness and insignificance—naturally underestimate our impact upon each other and upon this world of ours (which of course isn’t really ours and yet another reason for feeling unimportant). As I see it our sense of smallness hurts us in two ways.

First, it is the root of nearly all our greatest fears. That we are not enough. That we are frauds. That we don’t really matter and will eventually be forgotten.

Second, because we are so small we believe what we say and do doesn’t really matter. I feel you. I’m right there with you. Except, we’re wrong.

Yes, all we are, and have been, and will be, may just be a tiny drop in the vast ocean of history. Thing is, that vast ocean is really nothing but an accumulation of tiny, seemingly insignificant drops. Drops of matter. What we say and do matters. Especially when we do it together. When enough people believe a lie, it matters. When enough people close their minds, it matters. When enough people believe things can change, it matters. Therefore, when anyone does anything it matters.

Today I’m just here to remind you that YOU matter. And because you matter what you say and do matters. We are all connected you know. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Jonas Salk even though we’re not directly related to him. He was one of our good ancestors. He’s why we don’t have polio. And his life was proof that a good world starts with good people.

I know, I know, life is hard, and confusing, and most of us have our hands full with just trying to get from today to tomorrow without having to worry about leaving behind some grand legacy. So don’t think of it that way. Think of it as just doing your best to find your way through the forest, but remember that others will come along too and so, when on occasion we figure something out and turn in the right direction, the least we can do is leave a few breadcrumbs behind us for others to follow.

“Hello Olivia. I am your ancestor.”

Turns out Mom was right,“Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors,” and to leave a few breadcrumbs along the path so those who come next will have an even better chance of finding their way through the forest and building themselves a beautiful life.