Legacy is for the Living featuring Mr. Bruce Wesley Owner of Chicago’s Wesley’s Shoes

Susan V. Bosak of the Legacy Project suggests,

“Legacy is about life and living. It's about learning from the past, living in the present, and building for the future. It is an interconnection across time, with a need for those who have come before us and a responsibility to those who come after us.

A legacy may take many forms – children, grandchildren, a business, an ideal, a book, a community, a home, or some of ourselves. How many of us live so that our legacy reflects all we genuinely hold, most near and dear? How many of us are living with integrity and courage?

Molecules don't connect the world. Stories, traditions, memories, hopes, and dreams connect it. The legacies connect us passed down from those who came before us and the legacies we passed down to those who come after us.

For children, legacy means learning from the past. It separates the timeless from the transient. We need to tell them our life stories, our choices, and how we made our decisions.

For adults, legacy means hoping for the future. It means developing and passing on a timeless part of yourself. We feel valued and valuable no matter how old we get.

For both young and old, the power of legacy enables us to live fully in the present. You understand that you are part of a larger community that must remember its history to build its future."

This week, our story begins with someone who did not have shoes to wear until he signed up to be in the army. However, what he did have was a dream and determination. We hear his story through the words of his son, Bruce Wesley of Wesley Sheos, in the Hyde Park Community of Chicago. For over 70 years, the Wesley family has nurtured this dream until it awakened to win a National Independent Retail Shoe Store Award. The journey in between has been filled with life lessons, overcoming racism, natural disasters, determination, creativity, and faith.

Today, Wesley's is a family-owned shoe store providing an individual shopping experience to all who visit. From measuring a child's first shoe to helping you find comfort and style, we have everything you need to take your best step. This week, we celebrate the Wesley's Shoes legacy with its second-generation owner, Mr. Bruce Wesley.

Be inspired! I was.