Monday, April 25, 2011 Memories Make Your Legacy About More Than Property Alone
Have you ever wished you could go back in time and know your mother or father as a young person? Have you researched your family history or genealogy and kicked yourself for not asking your grandparents about their knowledge and experiences when you had a chance?
Technology has changed so much in the past century or half-century that never before has the world in which our grandparents grew up seemed so foreign to us. It’s hard for many people to imagine a world without cell phones or the internet, let alone a world without cars, Tupperware, or refrigerators. And it isn’t only technology that has undergone incredible changes: International politics and the great wars of the 20th century have changed the face of the world map many times over. Third world countries have become major world players.
It is for these very reasons that writing memoirs, or a family history, has become very popular in recent years. In the midst of all these staggering world and technological changes, a family history provides a rich cultural education and perspective, and plays a huge part in how we define ourselves and identify with the world around us. Many young people are hungry to know where they come from, and are asking their parents or grandparents to put down their history and experiences in a personal memoir.
Writing your memoirs or a family history may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, it has become so popular that there are quite a few books and toolsout there to help guide you through either writing your own history or interviewing older relatives to record theirs.
Everyone knows that you create an estate plan to provide for your descendents and pass on your estate: property, assets, and wealth. But this is only a part of what you want to pass on to your children and grandchildren. An Estate Plan can insure that your wealth is passed down, but your history and experience are just as important an inheritance. Your attorney can help you with the former, but only you can preserve the wisdom and experience that makes your history so unique. |