Years ago, I was checking out fabric where I saw my neighbor doing the same thing. An amazing fiber artist, I asked what her new project was going to be. She told me she was making baby quilts, one for each her son’s first children. Given that neither of her sons were close to being married, let alone fathers, I looked rather puzzled. My friend explained that her health situation, she had several chronic conditions, was such she didn’t know if she’d live to see grand kids, or if she did, she’d have the strength to make quilts. In short, she wanted to make sure that her future grandchildren would have a memory of her as a fiber artist.
Because I'm also the director of
a historical society, I’ve read a lot of journals and family histories.
Sometimes a family member just make us a copy of it, other times the family is
gone but they don’t know what to do with it so they drop it off at the Museum.
One of my favorite items came from a nurse in WWII who kept a diary of her war
experiences. These are incredible windows into our past and you’d be surprised
how they impact the future.
After my town was ravaged by
tropical storm Irene in 2011, I went back to the journals and articles written
by people after the flood of 1927, which had also devastated the town. Their
stories helped us cope with our disaster. The year Irene occurred was a
historic one for the town as we were to celebrate our 250th birthday
just six weeks after the flood. Everything was damaged, yet we knew it was
important that we mark that occasion if for no other reason, we wanted to send
a message to future generations that they too would have disasters, but they
could be resilient and move beyond it.
Legacy helps those who come
after us know that we have thought and cared about them as well as what we wish
for them.
At any age, thinking about a
legacy is appropriate. Consider the following ways you can do this:
• Keep track of your family’s history and organize it in a specific space where people know
where it is. This can include genealogy research, scrapbooks, baby books,
recipe books, recordings of family members telling stories, videos etc. Keep in
mind that anything you do electronically needs to be updated yearly as
technology changes so rapidly.
• Set up an educational fund for children. It sends a message of your expectations and hopes for
them as well as eases the financial burden. There are many different ways to
set up scholarship funds and laws very by state so the best recommendation is
to start by calling your local bank and discuss this with them. They will have
dealt with this request before and can be of considerable help. There are
scholarship crowding funding sites, such as Gradsave, that may be right
for your situation since it allows people to donate similar to how one uses a
gift registry.
• Write letters. My mother started doing this in the last decade of her life. For
different holidays, she would send us all letters describing how she celebrated
them as a child, memorable ones etc. These were wonderful keepsakes. Some
people write letters before their child is even born, outlining all the things
they want for that child. For more ideas and samples, check out Letter writing.
• Make something special. As my neighbor was doing, if you have a special
skill, make items in advance when you have time, energy and funds. I have a
friend that’s a weaver and she creates incredible shawls and scarves that she
gives to family and friends along with a note that lets them know that as they wrap themselves in
her work, she is cradling them in love. What a keepsake. Make sure you note who the items are
for, when they should be distributed, and have someone in addition to
yourself that knows where they are being kept.
• Support causes and organizations that mean a lot to you.
• Be a mentor
• Keep a journal: It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, just simple notations of
what is happening in your life will mean a great deal to future generations.
• If you are a caregiver, you can help create someone’s legacy for
future generations by keeping track of stories they tell you as well as what
they want to happen after they are gone.
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