Leaving Your Legacy

By Joan Edwards & Sue Hardy

“My true inheritance is the knowledge of my blood and myself…hand clasps hand across the years and we are one.” Eric Ambler

We’ve just spent a lazy afternoon gossiping with friends, and usual, the conversation turned to how things have changed since we were young. Remember when? Cars, fashions, schools, first jobs, stiletto heels to gym shoes and the social do’s and don’ts. The list seemed absolutely endless.

Thinking more about it, we realised this apparently idle chatter was really the social history of our times. More importantly, the social history that affects us personally is not recorded for our children and grandchildren.

It is estimated that over 300 000 Australian residents are researching their family history. There are societies, books, magazines, special sections in our libraries and internet sites. It is relatively easy to find many births, deaths and marriages. Information that is not so easy to obtain includes where our grandparents lived, their housing, work, and opportunities in life? Dedicated family historians are known to be overjoyed by the tiniest clue.

Just imagine the ecstasy of reading a copy of an ancestor’s journal detailing their journey by ship to Australia in the 1830s. Titbits of life on board including a list of the bags and boxes they brought with them, when Mother and Father were not well, storms, arguments between the captain and first mate, treatment of misbehaving female immigrants on board, and comments on the food. Our favourite was “the soup was so salt we could not sup it”. The family literally ‘comes to life’ within the pages of a personal diary.

We can give that ‘life’ to our children, grandchildren and as yet unborn future generations. The really dedicated may wish to write an autobiography, but let us look at some less rigorous tasks.

Have an exercise book where you can jot down reminiscences when you think of them. Include information such as the addresses of places where you have lived, the schools you attended and the names friends. Add your favourite sport, film, music, and pet hates.
You may want to include programmes from shows you enjoyed and even explain why you have kept that old broken tiepin or vase.

Recently we conducted the funeral of an octogenarian who had kept such exercise books for years. Her sense of humour leapt from the pages where she had pasted in jokes that she enjoyed. They were a window into her life and will be treasured by her son and his family.

Rummage around and collect together those unnamed photographs. Record the names, place and approximate date on as many as you can. You’re an amazing person if you can name them all. Bit by bit your own history will come together. Now, what do you do with all the unidentified ones, which were passed down from parents and grandparents? Leave them in the shoebox!

Someone may get a clue one day.

Talk, talk, talk at every opportunity. Conversations with contemporaries are wonderful memory joggers. Working Mums and Dads are inevitably short of time but opportunities will arise for you to pass on some of your heritage to others.

Encourage inquisitive grandchildren. Show interest in their school and tell them about yours. Topics are limitless; food, life before TV, microwaves, supermarkets and mobile phones, and the rabbito and clothes-prop man.
An exercise we can recommend is a treasure hunt with a difference. We have taken children to an old church cemetery, named an ancestor who died in 1833 and set them loose to find the grave.

A seven year old wanted something old for a school display on Grandparents Day and had the choice of several items that belonged to her great grandparents. She passed over the fine needlework and similar items and instead chose a chipped enamel pudding dish with a mend-it in the corner. You cannot always guess what will be of interest.

Leaving a legacy of family information cannot be measured in monetary terms but is invaluable for its ability to enrich your family’s sense of identity and heritage. These days many civil celebrants are helping people put together their life stories in order to leave behind a meaningful
legacy for future generations.

So this summer why not set about leaving your legacy and jot down the things you remember of what life was like when you were young. The following list may help you to get started with your families when, where and why.
•School days / youth dances / church groups
•Employment and the obtaining of qualifications
•Hobbies / pets and other things of interest
•Marriage, children & family life / holidays
•The war years
•The Depression
•Achievements and Awards
•Community involvement as a volunteer

All of these little memories you have are great treasures that should be shared with your family and future generations.