July 26, 2024 “Do you want to Wear Out or Rust Out?"
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending my family
reunion. There were so many highlights from the weekend but two of them really
stuck out.
We toured Charleston, SC where we can document our ancestors’
arrival to this country on slave ships in the early 1800s. My family and I were
wearing our family reunion shirts and throughout the tour, so many people of
all nationalities were stopping us asking what our shirts meant.
I was surprised to learn that many people have never experienced
a family reunion. For all of my life my family has had a family reunion every
two years. People were stating that the only time extended family would get
together was for a funeral or some type of tragedy. Our shirts say “Building a
legacy Brock by Brock. It was great to see our youth learning our family
history, with the elders passing on the legacy. Planning a family reunion is
hard, but worth the experience and it can be done. I urge you to start one if
you’re never done it.
The second highlight was when I asked and humbly accepted to be
the Mistress of Ceremony for our banquet. During the banquet we shared our
family history, played games to bond with all generations, had a fashion show,
remembered family members that passed on since our last reunion and gave gifts
to the youngest born. We even recognized all who traveled the furthest, one of
my cousins came from Singapore…wow!
However, the best part by far was when the matriarch of our
family, my grandmother’s sister, Aunt Mary Lou spoke. She’s a healthy, spunky 96-year-old
who didn’t need a walker or a cane. She went on the excursions and enjoyed
sharing her wisdom and family legacy with us. She’s truly a testament of “I
don’t look like what I’ve been through.” She was the youngest of 10 children,
and the only one to graduate high school and college. Back when she was a child
the kids had to drop out of school to help tend to the fields, pick cotton and
tobacco. Her family sacrificed a lot for her to be the first to complete
school. She told a story of how in Gable, SC there were no streetlights. They
had to walk to school and would see the white kids on the yellow school buses
which blacks weren’t allowed. She walked through woods, swamps, and unpaved
roads, sometimes in the dark, to get to school. She was only able to attend all
Black schools, which had little resources in buildings that were not always
conducive to learn in. I tell you the things we and the younger generations
take for granted.
My biggest take away from her speech was when she said, I’d
rather WEAR OUT than RUST OUT! I knew I came from No Mess DNA and that
statement solidified it for me. See the thing about DNA is you can be born
blessed with great genes, as they say it’s in your DNA however it is up to you
to not ruin, neglect or abuse it.
I the term “I would rather wear out than rust out" is a
great attitude to have! It means you'd rather be actively using your skills and
abilities, even if it means they might eventually decline or "wear
out", than to not use them at all and have them "rust out" from
disuse. The phrase emphasizes the importance of living life to the fullest and
staying active.
Listening to the story of how my great uncle Bubba who was permanently
disabled due to a train track accident he had at a young age that left him disfigured
yet, he went on to build his own house from the ground up and it still stands
till this day.
I come from ancestors that didn’t take no for an answer and knew
how to make a way out of no way. Y’all have heard me write and speak many times
of my No Mess granny. She truly WORE OUT at 98 years old still in her right
mind, no walker or cane, dancing and singing and not RUST OUT! This is how
I plan to be.
So, I ask you, how will you preserve your legacy? What will your
future family members remember about you? Will you WEAR OUT? Or RUST OUT? The
choice is yours. No Mess
