The most beautiful of legacies...

I wrote this one July 28th...it has remained a draft since, I didn't think it did justice... But these words are still all I have:

Yesterday marked the end of a life and the beginning of a legacy.

As it's defined, a legacy - in our case, is "anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor". Oma left a legacy of hope, faith, and above all, of love.
Upon joining the Vos clan just over three months ago, I was openly embraced by all of her children, and her children's children. The unity and the inexhaustible, seemingly tangible love that resonates in the Vos Homestead is unmistakably genuine. And as I sit down the hall listening to all of her children express their sorrows, prayers, and memories, there's a uniquely noticeable strength and peace about them. I can't help but believe that that is exactly what Oma would've instilled in them all their lives...to love, forgive, have faith, and to hold each other close.

Oma, alongside her husband of 51 years, fostered well over 200 children over the years. That's a lot of lives just through one area of her life...add in church ministries, neighbors,  friends, and you have easily thousands of people over the 69 years that she was direct presence of this world...

It really blows my mind how many people have noted and discussed the legacy of this woman. And now I can't help but feel it's up to us, as her children, grandchildren, friends, and even as mere acquaintances to carry out her legacy.
I guess it just makes me think.. what am I going to make of my life? What am I going to leave behind?
With the example of pure, unadulterated love in mind, I hope that when I reach the end of my life, I can be remembered half as beautifully as her.

All I do know for now is, I consider myself more than blessed to have been one of the lives touched by Clara Vos.