"Leave a Legacy of Love" by Dwight L. Roth

Leave a Legacy of Love  

By Dwight L. Roth

             

When all is said and done     

And your life here is finished.

When the race and crown is won     

Leave a Legacy of Love.

When your body fades away    

And your strength and spirit fail you;

When grief and sorrow stay

Leave a Legacy of Love.

    

Wealth and fame are soon forgotten  

And friends they buy are gone.

What will you give your children?

Leave a Legacy of Love.       

When they look back at you   

And all the things you've done,   

The only thing that lasts     

Is your Legacy of Love.

Leave a legacy of Love

                        With all your friends and love ones.                           

When all is said and done     

Leave a legacy of Love.

In your list of all you've done, 

It's all that really matters.

When all is said and done     

Leave a Legacy of Love.

Dwight Roth grew up in South Western Pennsylvania and graduated with a BS degree in Elementary Education from Eastern Mennonite College in Harrisonburg, VA. After teaching eight years in Bridgewater, VA, he moved to Rocky Mount, NC where he was a teacher in the Halifax County and Edgecombe County/Tarboro City Schools for twenty-one years. He was also a self-supported church pastor in Rocky Mount for eleven years.

After teaching he spent time doing home repair. Later he worked with the Edgecombe Community College teaching a hands on building construction classes in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity and the City of Rocky Mount. Before he retired he managed a vinyl siding warehouse for six years.

He lives with his wife Ruth and together they have two sons and six grandchildren. Two afternoons a week are spent volunteering at the Habitat Restore in Monroe, where he fixes donated items that would otherwise have been thrown in the dumpster. He enjoys dabbling in many things including writing poetry, painting, playing the guitar & singing, song writing, writing on theology and politics, and gardening. 

* Poem used with the permission of the poet. All rights reserved by the author.