For Those Who Came Before Us

Posted on Jan 9, 2015 | 2 comments

An amazing thing happened to me over this past holiday. While in my parent’s house, I was looking for their luggage scale and bumped the bookshelf. Out fell an old photo album open to the above picture.

It was one I had never seen before and I had to take a closer look.

It is a photo of my grandmother, my mother’s mother, getting ready to scuba dive using some sort of a gas mask turned into a breather which was common in the early 1930’s!

Scuba diving is my favorite thing to do. How amazing to know that my Gran also enjoyed it (enough to wear that ghastly thing!!), that I am carrying on in her adventurous spirit. Then I looked closer at the gear she had to use in order to experience the call of the ocean.

And I felt grateful.

Grateful that I can strap on a tiny tank, mask and fins and go experience the ocean.

Grateful that just a short distance down the road is any kind of food or convenience I need.

Grateful that we have incredible methods of transport in this time which allows me not only to explore our world but to keep in close touch with friends and loved ones who are far.

Grateful that at my fingertips is a tool in which I can communicate, connect and grow with millions of people whom I otherwise would never get to experience.

Grateful for clean water piped right into my house, bathrooms, beds and all of the little things that make day to day life easier and more pleasant for us.

But most of all?

I feel truly grateful to ALL of the people who came before us. I thank them for all of the modern day conveniences we so often take for granted. I thank them for all of the sacrifices (big and small) they have made in order for us all to live this way.

I found this fascinating letter on Forbes about what one couple went through 149 years ago “during a cold Pittsburgh November,”.  It is short and well worth the read as it puts the chain of life into an interesting perspective. There is no doubt in my mind that each one of us has had family members sacrifice for us in some way over time that we will probably never know about.

This post is a thank you for ALL of those who came before us and have made our lives that much better.

#Respect those that came #first. #Love your #life. #Liveyourlife http://t.co/v3Vw4fe15X

— Malibu Mama Loves (@MalibuMamaLoves) January 9, 2015

For both of my gran’s, and their mom’s and gran’s. Thank you. I hope that how I live my life honors you. I appreciate everything that all past generations have helped make possible. I will not forget where I have come from.

I pledge to you to continue on the effort to make the next generation’s life sustainable, healthier and happier.

And to my adventurous grandmother watching us from above, I promise you that I will take my daughter scuba diving the day she turns 9 and tell her your story.

Malibu Mama Loves Xx

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