J. D. Porter

Yesterday, we returned from a memorable weekend in Elijay, GA celebrating Karen’s birthday—the number of which I shall not reveal. Suffice to say it’s not a special ‘milestone’ birthday, like the one I will celebrate in the fall. But it did cause me to reflect on what a year of milestones 2024 is going to be.

My dad passed away 20 years ago in June and in July, my 8^th grandchild (another Porter boy) will be born to my son Ian and his wife Kelly. In August, Karen and I will celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary. Then, in November, my granddaughter Jasmine turns 20, our daughter-in-law Kelly turns 30, and I will turn 75. I am tempted to feel old, but I don’t. I am happy. And I feel fortunate to see these generations coming after me.

I went for a bike ride when we returned from our weekend travels to shake off the aches of the drive and as I peddled into my driveway at the end of the ride, Dan Fogelberg’s 1990 song Forefathers was finishing on my ‘oldies’ playlist:

And the sons become the fathers and their daughters will be wives
As the torch is passed from hand to hand, and we struggle through our lives
Though the generations wander, the lineage survives
And all of us, from dust to dust, we all become forefathers by and by

This often happens to me when I am chasing a thought and seeking inspiration for Monday morning. This time it was Dan Fogelberg in my earbuds reminding me we all become forefathers by and by—if we’re lucky.