Building a Legacy – #10Thankful
Legacy.
So often, when we think of the word legacy, we end up at the definition about what property is left behind in a will or a particular online obituary site. Honestly, though, neither of those are where my mind goes first.
When I think of a legacy, I think of the more abstract, intangible gifts from our loved ones that stay with us long after they have left us. Rather than washing away like footprints on sand, though, there is something permanent that remains.
I can think of many people who have passed from this life and what they have left behind. Most of these legacies are beautiful and positive; others less so. But in every case – whether positive or not – what remains is lasting and most definitely shapes the lives and the realities of those who follow after them.
When I think about all that I have collected from the ones before me, I think about how each of these gifts – each of these people – is part of me. I carry bits and pieces of my ancestors with me through every step of my life. And so I often wonder just what I will leave behind for my daughter and others who will follow me…
I have been given a legacy of great love several times over. I know what it means to be loved and cared for. I know that love is shown in many different ways. It is my hope that from these examples I have learned how to love and that I communicate that love to the people who need to know. I want my child to know she is loved and to know how to express her love for others.
I benefit so often from the gift of true wisdom, earned through lifetimes of trial and error, sadness and joy. I try to see all things in life as opportunities for learning and to perhaps gain some wisdom of my own from my personal experiences. I hope to pass on to my daughter any wisdom I might gain so that she may benefit from it as I have.
I have been passed a love for things like reading, music, and cooking by so many people. My interests, passions, and talents are my own, but I see them as a reflection of those same things in others who have gone before me. I am grateful to have been exposed to these things and share my love for them with my own child. I loved hearing stories read to me and I read to her so that one day she might read to her own children. I learned how to cook from my relatives and love having my daughter at my side in the kitchen learning how to do the same. I hear my mother’s instructions come from my own lips as I explain to my daughter what to put into tuna salad or how to prepare garlic bread.
I have also been left a legacy of uncertainty and doubt – one that is difficult to bear sometimes. Too often in life, there are words left unspoken and feelings left unexpressed, even if we might desire to do so. In some cases, we do run out of time and these situations are left unresolved. I endeavor to say what needs to be said to those I love now so they never have to wonder.
There are many more things I could list here, and there will still be many more to add as the years pass and loved ones move in and out of my life. I cannot possibly know what else will be gifted to me before my own days on earth are through. I am grateful for each and every piece of who I am that has been passed to me so far and for all those yet to come…
But what I do know is that in each of my days, in every moment, I am building a legacy of my own to pass on. I do not yet know what it will include or whether it will be great. I suppose that is for those on the receiving end to determine.
I do know that whatever my legacy turns out to be, it will reside in those who come behind me just as the legacies left to me have been passed through generation after generation, growing into what I carry within me today. It is my hope and prayer that at the very least, those who follow me will say I left a legacy of living and loving well.
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In addition to being a Ten Things of Thankful entry, this week’s post is also a Finish the Sentence Friday post.
This week’s sentence was “I want my legacy to be…”
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And soup. I think you’re going to leave a legacy of soup.
Definitely the living and loving well, and I really enjoyed reading about all the different bits of different ancestors you feel have impacted on you, and thinking about the different ones of mine which have impacted on me.
I think your legacy will be great. I think Zilla’s self as she is now, so wonderful, is a bit of a testament to who you are 🙂
Yes, I suppose soup is the thing. Can’t say that’s what I’ve ever aspired to. 😀 But maybe if my soup comes with stories and lessons and memories…that would be good.
Thanks for your words about Zilla – that’s completely wonderful to know. <3
When I was 16, attending my grandfather’s funeral, the first funeral I’d ever attended, I was heartbroken. Although with his quiet nature I’d never heard him say “I love you,”
I like wise had never spoken those words to him. I felt a huge regret that I had not done so. I learned from that mistake years later when about a year before my own father passed away, I felt very prompted to write a letter to him expressing my forgiveness of things I felt he had said or done toward me. That letter was a very healing moment for me. When he passed away, I didn’t have the regret of unspoken words. I also learned the power of forgiveness.
Thank you for sharing your story, Pat. A beautiful testament to the power of forgiveness.
very poignant. there is that thing (about all of us) that by receiving the gifts (and legacies) of others become part of a interlocking web. not always distinguishable within us, but there nonetheless.
this virtual world makes that interconnectedness much easier to perceive (or at least, sense the intimations of it) in the people who interact here.
new theme for the post? like it.
All that has preceded ends up part of right now…and the cycle continues.
Yes, new theme. I think I like it. Still undecided.
And what a wonderful legacy that would be. To be able to have touched so many people with your own special brand – and to have passed something to them that they didn’t have before.
I think there’s a little part in all of us that wants to be remembered, to go on beyond what we know now. Passing on our traditions and recipes, stories and traits…that sort of ensures that we go on. Each bit we gather from those before helps shape who we are and that gets passed and shared and spread so far beyond us now. It’s sort of mind-boggling.
Beautifully and eloquently expressed Lisa. Each of us the vehicle by which the life of all those who we’ve loved, who have passed before us, can live on through us. Perpetual love and connectedness, eh?
It’s a pretty great thing, right? I like that idea of life continuing to move through each of us and on to the next. Circle of life…
And thank you. 🙂
Based on what I have read here over so many months, I have no doubt that the legacy you leave to your daughter will be one of love, and a million precious memories and learning moments shared. The greatest gift a parent can give a child is their time and their attention and you do that. Zilla will enter her own adult life with a remarkable set of coping skills and living skills, and someday will without a doubt pass down your traditions and ways of parenting to her own child or children. That is the legacy that remains strong through generations to come. We could want for nothing greater!
Oh I do hope and pray for that, Josie. I know without a doubt how I came to be the person I am. I know who I watched, what I learned from doing so. That we continue to pass these things generation after generation is comforting.
This was so beautifully said! I love the thought that I am some combination of what others have taught and given me and that, in turn, I will similarly pass a legacy forward.
I particularly enjoyed the bit about hearing your mother’s voice in your cooking instructions to your daughter. My mother use to cite poems all the time to me as a child and now does it STILL for my kids. I get this warm feeling when I hear them starting to repeat them.
As for legacies in general – I’ve now read a few from this series and found a beautiful quote through Twitter that I hadn’t heard before which I think sums much of it up for me: “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
Thank you, Louise, and oh I love those words from Churchill! That is so true. I hear my mother (and her mother) in many times and places with my daughter, and no matter the circumstances it makes me feel so connected to something greater than right now. Thanks for reading!
I’m happy to be a part of a rich culture though I’m giving only a small fraction of it to the next generation because – lazy! I’m also grateful about having a blog to record all this so that it can- hopefully, be perused later!
I love your honesty, Roshni! 😀 I think we’re all guilty of that a bit, though. There is so much to know, to pass on, that it’s easy to lose some of it along the way. Recording it any way we can is a great thing, though!
I have also been left a legacy of uncertainty and doubt – one that is difficult to bear sometimes. Too often in life, there are words left unspoken and feelings left unexpressed, even if we might desire to do so. In some cases, we do run out of time and these situations are left unresolved. I endeavor to say what needs to be said to those I love now so they never have to wonder.
This is my favourite part of your legacy post Lisa.
I understand about uncertainty and doubt, as my half aunt just passed away and this stuff you cover here is all I’ve been thinking about lately.
I love to read how you are teaching your girl how to cook, like your mother taught you. Lovely. So so sweet.
Those three things you mention (reading, cooking, and music) are exactly the topics covered in the second podcast episode I just completed with my brother. Funny that.
I haven’t had a chance to catch the second podcast yet, but I will! Looking forward to it.
I hope that you are able to find peace and comfort as you move through these days since your aunt’s passing. Sending you a huge hug. <3
OH, this I love! Such truth….the essence of life and love really. The legacy of great love several times over. What a wonderful gift, perfectly captured in the turn of your phrase.
Well now I’m swooning from your lovely comments, May. Thanks for starting my day off so sweetly!