I just sealed up the pre-paid envelope containing the completed census form that's been sitting around the house for a few weeks. I was supposed to have been motivated to participate in the census because the people living in our house in the Spring of 2010 would 'count' toward possible future federal monies and other good things flowing into our community in the near future. For most people, I suppose that is reason enough. Or maybe it's reason to not fill out the form if you're a foolish tea partier whose twisted logic views not participating as some sort of brave stand against getting the benefits from the tax dollars our community paid in the evil government.
But as I sealed that envelope, the feeling came over me that I was preparing a gift. In 72 years (if this world is still spinning) my grandchild or great grandchild may become curious about their ancestry and what life was like way back at the turn of the 21st century. I imagine them accessing (by whatever method then current) the electronic representation of the 2010 census which will have just been released to the public. I picture them typing in our surname and being thrilled to find great grandfather and grandmother and, wonder of wonders, their own father (my 17 year old) as a teenager. I hear them puzzling over us having a child in our late 30's and why my brother is living with us. I am abrupty pulled from my future fantasy when I realize that my wife and I will be long dead and my son will be an 89 year old when the scenes I imagine unfold. Wow...
Maybe no descendant of mine will be bitten by the genealogy bug and the 2010 census information about my family will simply collect e-dust for the millenia. But I like to think that I wrapped up a gift this morning. And so I say to my imagined future relatives,
Good luck, and I hope we have left you some kind of future that is okay to live in. We tried our best and did what we thought was right.