I got an email from my old college roommate the other evening saying that his dad had passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. I hadn't seen the man in 12 years or so, but I always liked him. He was a good dad to Aaron (my roommate), and he was a good second dad to all of Aaron's friends. I hated to hear that another good person had passed.
The family wasn't having a public service, and the body was being cremated. So to pay my respects, I wanted to make memorial contribution to whatever charity the family had chosen, so I looked up the obit online. Reading it made me remember something else that was pretty somber - Aaron is eventually going to be all alone. He's an only child, and he and his wife have no kids and won't be having any. Both his mom and dad were only children, as well. Not only is he going to be all alone, he's going to be the end of his ancestral line.
Maybe I'm the only one who thinks it sad. Or maybe it's a guy thing. I know my wife and I have talked about similar things before and she doesn't really see the big deal, particularly since she was the one to change her last name. I, on the otherhand, finds it pretty depressing to think that my lineage would end.
I have been able to trace my ancestral lineage back eight generations before me, to the early 1700s and Colonial America. That history of my ancestors means something to me. And I'm an only child. I feel it my duty to carry that on. I guess it's how I know that I'm leaving my mark in history. And don't get me wrong - I'm not saying its wrong that he isn't having children. I'm just saying that it would bother me to know that I'm the last of my line - that lineage will die with me.
Would it bother you?
