LEAVING A LEGACY

The first “band” I played in
was in the second grade.
I played “the sticks”.
Others played triangles
and things that you shake.

A few years later
I played the drums in junior high —
then in the high school band and orchestra —
then in a Navy drum corps — 
and finally in the Gettysburg College marching band.

The above is not fascinating information
but it is more data than I ever received
from either of my parents’ childhoods.
They told me hardly anything about their pasts.

Now you know something about me
and if my children should happen to read this
they will know more about my early life
than I ever gathered 
 from my mother’s or my  father’s childhoods. 

As I face my twilight years
I want to know more about my forebears —
and that is not likely to happen.
Those who might have known something
have all left the planet.
Obviously, leaving a legacy has been of little concern
to those who have gone before me
and share my DNA.