This week offered up a great story about the power of a legacy in X-MEN LEGACY #300. This was probably my favorite issue from this particular comic book in more than a year. It featured two previously unknown characters -- an unnamed girl with a horrible past who finds herself in an alien death-trap outside of the Jean Grey School and a previously unknown member of the X-Men called Forgetmenot who possesses the unfortunate mutant ability to instantly slide out of others' memories whenever they look away from him.
Forgetmenot finds himself distracting "Fangirl" with stories of his past "forgotten" adventures as a member of the X-Men -- which led to the question of "legacy." What kind of legacy can one leave behind when nobody will ever remember you? Gradually, the question shifts and becomes this. Which is greater? The person leaving behind the legacy or the legacy itself?
There was a person in my past who was in charge of a department for several years. I know firsthand that she accomplished many good things during her tenure. But she was erratic with how she treated others. She had supervisors eavesdropping on employees. She went through dozens of administrative assistants within a period of months. She identified "problem-makers" and made life hellish enough for them so that they eventually fled the department.
People were literally dancing in the hallways when they received the email announcement of her resignation. And it wasn't just those whom she had targeted. Pretty much everyone was celebrating.
What kind of lasting legacy did she leave behind? People don't remember her operational achievements when they talk about her, but they still talk about how she treated other people years later.
We all leave behind legacies. Some are more significant than others. Some touch millions. Others touch a handful. It's up to each of us to step back from time to time and reassess how we live our lives and impact those around us. Because it all adds up.