No Indispensible Man...

This is a humbling home truth that my father would quote to my brothers and I when we were young... A worthy sentiment. On searching just now I discovered that its author, Saxon White Kessinger passed away in 2010. I have included her photo below.

ODE TO THE INDISPENSABLE MAN

Sometime when you’re feeling important;

Sometime when your ego’s in bloom

Sometime when you take it for granted

You’re the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going

Would leave an unfillable hole,

Just follow these simple instructions

And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,

Put your hand in it up to the wrist,

Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining

Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,

You may stir up the water galore,

But stop and you’ll find that in no time

It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example

Is do just the best that you can,

Be proud of yourself but remember,

There’s no indispensable man.

Saxon Nadine White Kessinger (1921 - 2010)