One Apple A Day #31
Alfred is a wealthy inventor and businessman. He has built a fortune thanks to his inventions. But he is a tormented man. His inventions have been used for good and, unfortunately, for evil actions. It’s 1888, no Internet or television yet. News travels a lot slower than now. Alfred has just lost his brother Ludvig in a tragic accident in Cannes. You can imagine his surprise when he read the obituary in a French newspaper.
“Dr Alfred Nobel, who made his fortune by finding a way to kill the most people as ever before in the shortest time possible, died yesterday”
They mistook the death of his brother for his. The title of the obituary was even harsher.
“Le marchand de la mort est mort”
They called him the merchant of death. Probably this is the reason why he established the famous Noble prize. He wanted his legacy to be about something good and positive, not about death.
On a more personal level, this made me think of my father. He passed away unexpectedly in 2013. I always knew him for being a good man. He was a man of strong integrity and a big heart. He was also a little stubborn sometimes, but in a good way. The way that makes you achieve your goals. Most of all he was my father. I knew him mainly for our relation inside the family boundaries. A relation with its highs and lows, like any father and son relation. He was also active in the local community so I was aware that the whole small town was touch by his departure. What I didn’t expect was the thousands of people that came to his funeral. There wasn’t enough space in the church for everyone. Most of the people stand outside. We had to close the road and place a few loudspeakers outside. It was overwhelming. After the funeral, for weeks I’ve been meeting people who told me how their life has been touched by my dad. I didn’t know. He wasn’t just my dad. He was much more.
Both these stories speak about legacy. About the impact our life can have on others and how they’re going to remind us.
The months after I lost my father I started thinking about my life, about what I was doing. What I was becoming. I started a journey to understand what I want to achieve, who I want to grow into and what is my purpose. It’s a long way and for now, I still have more questions than answers. But sometimes, a good tough question is far better than an easy answer.
One of those questions is “How do I want to be remembered?”.
I want to find my way to leave my world better than I found it.
Like my dad did.