A handful of summers ago, I had the pleasure of attending three weddings and two funerals. Yes, you read that right – it was a pleasure attending the funerals. At the weddings, I shared in the excitement of the possibilities of the new couples’ lives together. At the funerals, I shared in the celebration of lives well lived. One funeral was of a 73-year-old man, married for 53 years, father of 12, grandfather of 26, great-grandfather of one, who died after a several-year battle with cancer. The other was of a 91-year-old man, married for 64 years, father of 11, grandfather of 22, great-grandfather of 38, who died after living a long life. Sure, there was sadness at each funeral, but the stories shared were more of joy and pride stemming from the impact these two men had on the people they encountered.

In the age of the Internet and 24-hour news channels, we are continuously exposed to the rise and fall, and often, the rise and fall again, of public figures our society idolizes and emulates. These two men, men of deep faith, character and strength, partnered with women of equal faith, character and strength to leave legacies surpassing those we hear about nationally, without the scandal.

These were not perfect men. They were ordinary men with faults just like the rest of us. What makes them worth emulating, though, was their commitment to their families. They were content to play the supporting role, allowing and encouraging their children to shine. They did what it took to provide for their families, one taking many different jobs throughout his life, the other working in the same career for 38 years. They instilled these values into their children and now the children, and grandchildren, continue to add to these legacies.

They may never have made the national news and if you Googled their names, you would not get many hits. I have been blessed, though, to have grown up with the children of the first man and to have married a grandchild of the second, and I feel very fortunate to have been impacted by the legacies of both. I can only hope to do my best to live as well as these two men did.

One side note: If you haven’t read my blog entry from Wednesday, I recommend reading it just to get a sense of what the families waiting to adopt children from Russia may be experiencing as the possibility of Russia enacting an immediate ban on all adoptions of Russian orphans to Americans. My thoughts and prayers go out to those families, hoping their stories turn out as well as “Little Z” and his family’s did.