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I know that there will come a time when I will no longer be of this world, and I have often wondered what kind of a legacy I would like to leave behind to those of this world. I have thought long and hard about this because I know the we would like to leave something for the next generation and for generations to come. I have lived a long life until now and I don't plan on leaving this world just yet but I am at a stage in my life where I want to leave some sort of a lasting legacy for my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren yet to come and generations after them, something positive. I hope that I can leave a legacy of being a teacher, passing on knowledge and the wisdom that was passed on to me by my Elders and to be remembered in that way.
So what kind of legacy would you like to leave behind for your generations yet to come?
Location: In the North Idaho woods, still surrounded by terriers
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I would like for my grandchildren and great grandchildren to know that I was not afraid to ask "why?", that I was willing to take a chance, follow a dream, go on an adventure, and learn new things even when I thought I already had the answers. I would hope they could look back at my life and know I loved without conditions and forgave without expectation...and I hope they will be proud to know they carry my blood and spirit within them.
I don't have children and never will at my age so nothing will be passed down to the next generation. It's kind of sad to think about it but I believe that with the exception of the few rare individuals who have acheived the ability to influence society in a major way such as Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln and people of that stature the rest of us are going to be dead and forgotten. We can be influential and touch the lives of others while we're still alive but the only ones who will even remember us after we die are the people who loved and cared about us and after they're gone no one will even know we existed. I think this is a good topic for discussion and I always enjoy the posts by ptsum but there are millions of people who have lived before us and they've died and been forgotten. On that positive note I will say goodnight.
In the end I don't mind but really whats with this need to leave a legacy behind? and why do we fear being forgotten?
coos, my friend, no disrespect intended, but you haven't lived long enough to be concerned about something like this, come back in about 50 years and let's see if your response is the same then........
I hope to leave a legacy of love and the importance of family to my children and grandchildren and great grands..I hope to be remembered from one generation to the next with my piles and piles of writings that I hope to get organized soon, because all the history and my personal thoughts, beliefs and prayers for them are there..
The more I think about this I realize that my own ancestors have left a legacy that I can appreciate. I've been interested in tracing my family history and I have quite a few very old photographs of many relatives from the early 1900's. Even though most of them lived long before I was born I've collected information about their immigration mostly from Ireland to America. I think people traveling across the country in covered wagons in the 1800's like a few of my relatives did had to be very resilient and I think it must have been very difficult but my GreatGrandParents managed to start up a ranch in Montana. So my last post on this subject was a little gloomier the more that I've thought about it because even though all of these people are gone they're not forgotten and maybe I'll be remembered in a similar way by my brother and sister's children and future generations. I hope so.
MG, sounds like you have a wonderful collection of family history and photos to hand down ..I am sure you will be remembered as the "family historian" and appreciated for many generations
The more I think about this I realize that my own ancestors have left a legacy that I can appreciate. I've been interested in tracing my family history and I have quite a few very old photographs of many relatives from the early 1900's. Even though most of them lived long before I was born I've collected information about their immigration mostly from Ireland to America. I think people traveling across the country in covered wagons in the 1800's like a few of my relatives did had to be very resilient and I think it must have been very difficult but my GreatGrandParents managed to start up a ranch in Montana. So my last post on this subject was a little gloomier the more that I've thought about it because even though all of these people are gone they're not forgotten and maybe I'll be remembered in a similar way by my brother and sister's children and future generations. I hope so.
Montana, I do a lot of genealogy, myself. I consider it to be part of my legacy to my children, and grandchildren, and so on. I don't have much in the way of earthly goods to leave my children, but this is something I can leave them. It's my way of staying connected to the past, and to keep them connected, as well. To give them a sense of family, of where they came from, of the history that our ancestors were a part of, whether in a large way, or not. I don't think we have to be famous in order to have a lasting influence on those who come after us. Every name, every date, every event is important, even though we didn't know our ancestors personally.
And, even though you have no children of your own, you still have a blood connection; you have collateral descendants, and your name will be around a very long time. You have a lot of family history to share, (shoot, I love history, and I would love to hear some of your stories, and we're not even related!), and they will appreciate it, someday, (if they don't, already). Your nieces and nephews, and their children, and so on, will know who you were long after your bones have turned to dust.
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