Florence Nightingale was an incredible woman. She revolutionized nursing. She saved thousands of lives. This came as a surprise to the high society of Victorian England, because women weren’t supposed to do career type things, let alone something as hands-on as work in a hospital.
But anyone who looked at Florence’s family tree should not have been surprised. She wasn’t just some saint who came from nowhere. Her great- grandfather was a philanthropist who supported the American Revolution, even donating large chunks of his holdings in Savannah to the cause. His son —Florence’s grandfather—was a member of the British House of Commons and a leading abolitionist in the UK. The fact that his daughter, Fanny (Florence’s mother), didn’t seem to care much about the less fortunate was the exception, not the rule, in their family.
It wasn’t an accident that Florence Nightingale was inclined to charity and selflessness. She learned it in the fashion that all great traditions are created —from the choices made by family. She was inspired by her ancestors.
We can’t choose the family tree from which we spring. But as parents we can choose who in our family tree we look to for guidance. We can, like Florence Nightingale, pick which family members to be inspired by, whose example to follow. As parents, we can choose which branches of the family to tell our kids about, which stories we want to highlight and which lessons we want to fill their heads with.
Raising great, selfless, courageous kids is not an accident. They aren’t sui generis or ex nihilo. They come from a tradition. They come from us.