How do you know when you are finished with your story or bio? Deadlines can demand that you end or if you have lots of time, it’s possible to never finish. Remember-after you do finally publish, you can always add other chapters in the future. The important thing is to get your story written and not drag it on forever and never accomplish your purpose.
If you have a theme for your manuscript, the ending can be where you tie it all together and/or give a challenge to your readers to write their own history. In my husband’s bio, I had his four daughters write a little tribute at the end of his history to their dad on the effect of his life and their experiences together as a family. (Photo of four generations of my husband's family, his first daughter Deborah, his mother Wanda and his maternal grandmother Frankie Juanita. Look at those happy smiles.)
The oldest daughter wrote…my dad inspired me in many ways. His passion for gardening has planted in me the love of gardening also. Traveling as much as we did gave me the ability to adapt to different circumstances and also to love to travel. Another daughter said Because we always lived in the trees and mountains, that is where I find myself wishing I could be, we saw a lot of amazing places growing up. Her sister shared…Some people live their whole life in one place, never getting the opportunity to enjoy all that God has given us in the beauties of the world. Because of my Dad I have seen lots. The youngest daughter sums up her father’s life beautifully…My Dad is a man of few words. As such, his actions spoke for him and the example he set with his work ethnic, independence and motivation taught me there was a right way for things to be done. Thank you Dad for all that have done and the person that you are.
I couldn’t have written a better ending. So perhaps ask your children to comment on your life. Why wait till your obituary or funeral eulogy, when you can gather that info now? In my own life story I ended with: As we look at the past, we can see the growth we made as well as the mistakes and can easily hope to be as forgiving of ourselves and others as we hope they will be of us. We only get one chance to live here on earth and it deserves our best efforts…In closing my life history, I want to express my love to my family and friends who have shared this journey with me call “life.”