There is a saying by George Santayana from The Life of Reason. It says, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” King Solomon said the same thing in the book of Ecclesiastes about 3000 years ago. He said, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” The difference is what we choose to remember and do. It is so easy to forget about this detail or that one. Life crowds in on us and we just forget. But time has a way of catching up with us.

Everyone knows what due diligence is. It is being mindful of what is going on around us. It is being particularly aware of what we have to do and how it is going to be accomplished. Sometimes that acute awareness starts when we are young. But sometimes people remain clueless as their life drifts into the void.

I have studied my families history. How 4 families over 400 years have come together in my family. You know what I have seen over those 400 years? I have watched them grown up, be educated, marry, have children and eventually die. They build a life for their immediate family and around their extended family. Some were farmers, some merchants, some pirates, some doctors, but all believing that they were providing for their family. One thing struck me is that they all learned from their previous family, whether good, bad or indifferent.

And in that remembering, we can not only see our ancestors, but we see ourselves and our children and grandchildren. It is because there is nothing new under the sun.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com