How will I be remembered?

personal decisions

Leaving a legacy

A great big fat worry for many is that we’ll be forgotten. To put it in perspective, the late Dr. Larry Librach, palliative doctor, asks his patients: “In 100 years, what are people going to remember about you?” His recommendation:

“In dying, celebrate what you’ve accomplished, and leave that as your legacy.”

Many want to leave more than memories

Dr Harvey Chochinov’s Dignity Therapy asks patients to write a story of their life

“Sometimes people start to feel that they have outlived their usefulness and that life has no meaning. Dignity Therapy, a brief psychological intervention our team has developed, can offer a renewed sense of purpose. It’s a way of giving patients back the ability to do something they feel useful, meaningful”

A mother with a terminal illness, when treatment options had been exhausted, got active with a Legacy project:

“Dying is boring. I’m going to craft a quilt. Each piece of fabric has story. I want you children to record it as I sew.

Legacy and rememberance can be found in unexpected places:

“I’m forever grateful to my Dad for the amazing range of art he fit for a few years before he died. I love being surrounded by it – although it leaves no room for new.

My mother left unfinished a book, ‘How to get a husband in 30 days’ that my sibs and I regularly revisit and we’ve each thought of trying to get it finished. We hear her voice in her hand-written notes. and over time have to come to a different sense of appreciation of her as more than a mom.

For my own daughters – now in their 20’s – the baby blankets knitted by their late grandma are filled with a sense of comfort and caring. Kathy Kastner

Karen Greve Young and her mom – diagnosed with Ovarian cancer – shared their journeys while living on different sides of the ocean. Their email communication became a legacy in their book: Love you so much: a shared memoir

The digital world is filled with digital legacy possibilities:

Memorials & Tributes to those who have gone.

Thoughts and Feelings from those who remain.

Services that help put photos, videos, correspondence into a digital format

The digital world is also filled with passwords that you and only you are supposed to know.

But what of those passwords and services after your death?

People should leave clear instructions about what should happen to their social media, computer games and other online accounts after their death, according to the Law Society.

Having a list of all your online accounts, such as email, banking, investments and social networking sites will make it easier for family members to piece together your digital legacy, adhere to your wishes and could save time and money.

– See more at: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/press-releases/leave-a-digital-legacy-after-your-death-urges-law-society/#sthash.00KNpycC.dpufThe digital world is filled with passwords:

“People should leave clear instructions about what should happen to their social media, computer games and other online accounts after their death, according to the Law Society.

Having a list of all your online accounts, such as email, banking, investments and social networking sites will make it easier for family members to piece together your digital legacy, adhere to your wishes and could save time and money.” Leave a digital legacy after your death

For social media– twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook however, rules are changing: