Leaving a legacy has much more to do with character than with money.
Let me share two stories to illustrate the point:
Story 1:
Al Capone virtually owned Chicago, through bootlegged booze, prostitution, and murder. Capone had a lawyer named Fast Eddie, whose legal skills kept Big Al out of jail. Capone paid Fast Eddie extremely well.
Eddie did have one soft spot, a son whom he loved dearly. Eddie made sure his son had the best of everything. Yet, Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was. To rectify the situation, Fast Eddie cleaned up his tarnished name by testifying against the mob. Within the year, his life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago street.
Story 2:
As a fighter pilot in the South Pacific, Butch O’Hare discovered that somebody forgot to top off his fuel tank. Without enough fuel to complete his mission, he was ordered to return to the ship. While returning, he discovered a squadron of Japanese aircraft on their way to the American fleet. Butch O’Hare dove into the formation of Japanese aircraft with his 50 calibers blazing, attacking one plane after another. He wove in and out of the now-broken formation. After expending all of his ammunition, he continued the assault, diving at planes, trying to clip a wing or a tail. Finally, the Japanese squadron took off. Butch O’Hare returned to his carrier, becoming the Navy’s first Ace of WWII and the first WWII aviator to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. A year later, 29-year-old Butch was killed in combat. His hometown of Chicago named its airport in tribute to Butch O’Hare.
What do these two stories have in common? Butch O’Hare was Fast Eddie’s son.
Leave a true legacy. Your true legacy is much more than your money.
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