What kind of legacy will I leave?

This has been a very sad and very challenging week. I attended a funeral on Monday and watched two girls aged 10 and 18 weep over the coffin of their father. Another situation that I am indirectly involved sees a girl my age lose her husband today to cancer. She has a two and a half year old child and is expecting their second in November. I watched my nephew play happily with my two kids today desperately sad that he will not grow up to know his Grandpa, someone who doted upon him, someone who would have been such a role model for him.
I have had some pretty deep conversations this week. In one with my brother we discussed all that Jack's Grandpa had been to folks around about him, the completely giving nature of the man. So many folks tonight grieving the loss and wondering who else will fill that gap. As we talked we acknowledged it was our responsibility to ensure that those values would be passed to Jack. It was our responsibility to ensure that he grew up with the challenge of living a life for others. The choices will be his, as they are ours.
My son climbed in to bed beside me this morning. Grateful, I think, for a few quiet moments with his mum, there have been precious few of those this week. In that half asleep but conscious he was there state, I heard him say. "You are my hero, Mum." How wonderful would it be to always be that to my son. He will watch my choices and live my choices directly for the next 14 years, God willing, and then indirectly after that. May he see someone he can be proud of. May he see someone who values life, who enjoys the journey, someone who recognises that we are not just here for ourselves but here to make a difference in the lives around us.