Perseverance -- The Legacy of Emily Jean Thorn

Most of us are very limited in terms of the number of people we might impact in a day's time. Unlike famous celebrities or powerful politicians whose comings and goings generate media coverage that is available to millions of people, regular folks might influence a few family members and a friend or two each day.

There is a bit of mystery that accompanies the seeds of influence each of us dispenses. Over the course of our lifetimes, we meander through our days, rarely ever knowing where those seeds have landed, if they have taken root, or if they have produced something useful.

It is doubtful that Emily Jean Thorn of West Virginia ever imagined, as she fought her breast cancer diagnosis through "thick and thin," that many years later her young granddaughter, Heidi, would recount her grandmother's strength of character. The legacy that Emily left to Heidi was to "never give up on anything even if the odds are totally against you."

To Emily Jean Thorn, whose seeds of influence have landed quite some distance from where they were first sown: today I will borrow the shoes you left behind. Though I cannot ever hope to fill them, I will take them with me, persevering through the next mile in honor of your legacy.