on my mind

In a house which becomes a home, 
one hands down and another takes up 
the heritage of mind and heart, 
laughter and tears, musings and deeds. 
Love, like a carefully loaded ship, 
crosses the gulf between the generations. 
Therefore, we do not neglect the ceremonies 
of our passage: when we wed, when we die, 
and when we are blessed with a child; 
When we depart and when we return; 
When we plant and when we harvest. 
Let us bring up our children. It is not 
the place of some official to hand to them 
their heritage. 
If others impart to our children our knowledge 
and ideals, they will lose all of us that is 
wordless and full of wonder. 
Let us build memories in our children, 
lest they drag out joyless lives, 
lest they allow treasures to be lost because 
they have not been given the keys. 
We live, not by things, but by the meanings 
of things. It is needful to transmit the passwords 
from generation to generation.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery