I remember my first Memorial Day, the year after my dad’s funeral in June 1945. He was killed unexpectedly in an airplane crash when I was five years old. My most vivid memory from his funeral is the smell of gardenias. My mom kept all the ribbons from his floral displays for years and all the sympathy cards. There were many. We tried to meet yearly with family to decorate his grave. Now mom has passed away and is buried by his side when we visit their graves. I find myself the oldest member of my immediate family-the matriarch. That’s a sobering thought as you realize in just a few years you could also be planted beneath the sod with only a headstone to mark your life.
That’s why I write and collect genealogy, so our family will not be forgotten. I’ve visited most of my ancestor’s burial places within Utah and photographed their headstones. Nowadays I have a webpage on the Internet where I publish my family histories and photos. It does get the attention of my younger family members who are computer literate––which is most of them. My goal is family unity and learning from our ancestor’s legacies or our own heritage.
What are the lessons you want to leave for your immediate family and close friends? Your example and daily life speak volumes as you touch others’ lives and struggle through your own challenges. Writing a life history or memoirs of your experiences can help connect you to your family, a way of extending your legacy or memory for generations yet unborn. Aren’t you just the tiniest bit interested in the lives and challenges of your great grandparents who you probably didn’t even know? I am. So, should your life be any less interesting to your great grandchildren?
Try writing your own obituary of your life’s accomplishments and lessons learned or better yet write your life history or a summary. What do you want your headstone to say? My uncle Les’s headstone says…gone fishing. That was his favorite activity while living, but I bet he’d love to have just one more day, week or year of normal everyday activities with his family around––eating dinner together or simply talking. Life does have a habit of rushing forward whether or not we are prepared for the end, it will come. Think about that, as you celebrate this Memorial Day.
That’s why I write and collect genealogy, so our family will not be forgotten. I’ve visited most of my ancestor’s burial places within Utah and photographed their headstones. Nowadays I have a webpage on the Internet where I publish my family histories and photos. It does get the attention of my younger family members who are computer literate––which is most of them. My goal is family unity and learning from our ancestor’s legacies or our own heritage.
What are the lessons you want to leave for your immediate family and close friends? Your example and daily life speak volumes as you touch others’ lives and struggle through your own challenges. Writing a life history or memoirs of your experiences can help connect you to your family, a way of extending your legacy or memory for generations yet unborn. Aren’t you just the tiniest bit interested in the lives and challenges of your great grandparents who you probably didn’t even know? I am. So, should your life be any less interesting to your great grandchildren?
Try writing your own obituary of your life’s accomplishments and lessons learned or better yet write your life history or a summary. What do you want your headstone to say? My uncle Les’s headstone says…gone fishing. That was his favorite activity while living, but I bet he’d love to have just one more day, week or year of normal everyday activities with his family around––eating dinner together or simply talking. Life does have a habit of rushing forward whether or not we are prepared for the end, it will come. Think about that, as you celebrate this Memorial Day.