Tony Snow's Legacy

I loved his voice and his sense of humor. I loved the way he explained complex issues. He was all relaxed, always seemed a little amused at life: he made everything seem elementary. That is the mark of a truly articulate person.

There will be many eulogies, many tributes to Tony Snow.

I don’t think there can be a more revealing one than what Dan Perino said about Tony’s tenure as White House Press Secretary. Perino was Snow’s assistant at that time. He said,

"The White House has lost a great friend and a great colleague.
We all loved watching him at the podium, but most of all we
learned how to love our families and treat each other."

We tend to think that it is our work, or the use of our talents, that will be our legacy. We think it is the accomplishment of some great task that will prove our worth.

I think we have it exactly backwards. Most of us will be forgotten within a generation. Our greatest accomplishments will be surpassed, absorbed into the ongoing flow of life and history. It is the small things: the offhand comment, the unconscious acts – whether kind, uplifting, encouraging and enlightening - or selfish, mean and low – that will be our true legacy.

Many times I’ve heard people say, “I’ll never forget what Joe said about____. It was a turning point for me.” And Joe doesn’t remember saying it.

My own life was profoundly affected by my best friend’s mother. She never gave me advice, her name won’t make it into any history book. She loved her irascible husband and five children and welcomed me into her home. That’s it. Yet, her example encouraged me in the true sense of that word. Her example gave me the courage to get married, to stay married, to have children and believe I could raise them.

Those things we do because of our character, that other people observe for good or ill, are the things that change lives. And those lives change other lives. And so the sins – and the redemptive acts – of the fathers are passed to the children, to the third and fourth generation.*

In the end, it is not what Tony snow did - it is who he was - that made him a wonderful human being.

Blessings on you!

Marilyn

*Deuteronomy 5:9