This week a high school teacher passed away at 84. He was a great man that dedicated 49 years of service to that high school. One of his greatest contributions was setting up a charitable organization that build Habitat for Humanity houses in Tijuana, Mexico. He built over 100 homes in 20 years. He was kind, loving and caring.

The high school setup a memorial on campus where you could bring flowers or other tokens of gratitude. I took a picture he and I taken months ago along with images of his Tijuana Mission homes and a picture of the Pythagorean Theorem as he taught me geometry in High School. I was saddened by the lack of any flowers and tokens. This man had dedicated his life to helping other people for 49 years and there was hardly anything there. Could all that love and hard work be forgotten so easily?

I walked through some of the classrooms I had memorable classes in. It brought back many memories. One of those memories is the speech given by the valedictorian of our 1976 class. He started his speech by saying, “If you want to know what you will contribute to the world, stick your head in a bucket of water and then pull it out. Look at the water. That’s what you will contribute to humanity.” I received that jolting prediction 47 years ago. No way. That can’t be true. I will leave something. I will do something with my life.

As I approach my life’s finish line, I wonder.

I think that if I don’t leave a letter to my grandchildren, what will I have done for humanity? Will I leave just a temporary disturbance to the water that calms to flatness in seconds?

I don’t remember any other part of the valedictorian’s speech so I had to finish it myself. “It’s about choices. I can choose to live a life that leaves no ripple or improvement or I can choose to leave something of value that will live beyond my own life. The choice is mine.”