Do you ever think about what sort of legacy you will leave after you die? How will you be remembered?Personally, it is not something I am preoccupied with thinking about but it is something I am certain we, at some point in our life, contemplate. Specifically, what imprint will our life leave in the world and will anyone remember us 10, 20, 30 or more years from now. How does that make you feel? Is being remembered far into the future about ego?
I remember saying to a friend after her dad died that she ought to write his obituary and place it a major newspaper. She asked me why I thought that was important. To which I replied from an historical perspective, if in the future someone were curious about her family it would serve as a good starting place to begin their research. It is a record of when and where he was born, his parents, his children and grandchildren, his accomplishments, and how he died. In the end, I am not sure what she decided.
So, for historical reasons you may want to be remembered for your accomplishments and legacy to your decedents. But does this really matter? In my opinion, indeed it does. I just got word that a former colleague recently died. Reading his obituary demonstrates the importance of a good obituary. His obit is filled with so much information. What I remember about him was his absolute love of classical music . RIP Stewart Raby.
It occurred to me whilst pondering life, death, remembrance, that the meaning of life is to lived life to the fullest, and to drink greedily from life's fountain of possibilities. Do something that makes a positive difference in your life, and do it often. It does not have to be a grand gesture. For example, do you remember the last time you really had some fun, had a belly laugh, a laughed that made you cry, or was overwhelmed by the beauty of the setting sun?
When my son was younger about 3 or 4 years old he would often say “I am so happy, I am going to remember this day forever.” When was the last time you rolled around on the floor with shredded paper, as he is doing in this picture?
Think of how amazing your life could be if everyday was a day to be forever remembered!
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4 comments:
I personally wish that there was a better system for obituaries. Last summer I was curious to learn more about the people that had lived in my sister's house prior to her occupancy. It was built in the mid-1800's.
While detailed records could be found on the people that lived there up until 1930 ish, after that it was sporadic.
Thank you for coming by and your comment.
Your are right there is no standardization for obituaries making it difficult to learn more about the person after they have died. But another good source for research are church records.
The advice you gave to your friend about writing an obituary was a good and very important one.
It was through one single obituary found on the internet, that I could make a breakthrough in a genealogical search started by me several years ago with the goal of finding out about my great great grandmother and her descendants.
She left Romania at the beginning of the 20th century for America. I'm still working on it as there are some important gaps to fill in and since I don't live in America and I'm far from the sources.it's not easy.
Hi Duta,
If people write really descriptive obituaries it can be a wonderful source of information.
Another good source on genealogy are Mormon sites http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp.
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