Every Man has Leaned on the Past...

I was corresponding with one of my grandfathers by e-mail earlier today. He's a WWII veteran, with experiences in a Lancaster bomber that he cannot speak of even to this day. He was commenting on the family picture we sent to my grandmother and him, saying he never expected to make it to over eighty years old, and certainly didn't expect to meet his great-grandchildren, the eighth generation of Canadians in our line.

I reminded him that we're pretty proud of where we come from. When I was at Air Force Indoctrination school at CFB Comox more than fifteen years ago, our class was shown a poem. Much of it remained with me over the years, but I wanted to make sure I got it right before I sent it to him.

Luckily, I found it online. I suspect Miles Selby picked the poem up the same place I did:

Every man has leaned upon the past.
Every liberty we enjoy has been bought at incredible cost.
There is not a privilege nor an opportunity
that is not the product of other men's labors.

We drink every day from wells we have not dug;
we live by liberties we have not won;
we are protected by institutions we have not set up.

No man lives by himself alone. All the past is invested in him.

We stand on the shoulders of giants. If you're lucky enough, as I am, to still have some of them to visit with, make sure you do it this holiday season.