Recalling and Recording your Life’s Story

Two questions popped into my mind when I wrote this in 2019.

1. What do we remember about our parents or grandparents years after their passing? AND
2. What do we want to be remembered for ourselves?

The questions surfaced after meeting Lindsay Patterson last week. She’s a young lady fresh out of college who was promoting her new business, ReflectAndRecord.com. It’s a personal history business that specializes in multimedia memoirs, and it made me think back on the memories my mom left for me in a handwritten book.

Mom never got into computers like I did. She worked her entire career as a secretary with the British Navy in Washington, D.C. Without ever touching a computer, it seems fitting she’d leave her legacy in handwritten book – a book that prompted her to record her story in fill-in-the-blanks style, with photos added. In today’s modern times, she might have used a service to create a multimedia memoir that could be passed down electronically, recorded on CD, or stored online for perpetuity.

I still have that little book in my box of keepsakes in case we need to evacuate from Texas wild fires. I also have a commemorative book about dad on the U.S.S. Minneapolis during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It’s my only written memory of them, and as I think back on what these two small books mean to me, I can’t help but recommend that you or your loved one capture and record your life memories now while you still can.

While talking with Lindsay about her personal history business, I tried to think of terms she might use to describe services. But I was having a senior moment and couldn’t grasp the right word until later. Actually, there are several keywords you can use in a Google search for more information. Start with Legacy, Memorial, Online, Perpetual, Virtual and Website.

I discovered a related story today on NPR: For The Dying, A Chance To Rewrite Life. It describes life recordings as a tool to help people cope with end of life. Harvey Chochinov developed the concept over 10 years ago and called it dignity therapy. The idea was to ask the dying to tell the story of their life.

The idea came after a powerful moment he had while counseling a man with an inoperable brain tumor. “One of the last times that I went into his room to meet with him, on his bedside table was a photograph of him when he was young and healthy and a bodybuilder. The juxtaposition of these two images was incredible,” says Chochinov.

Clearly, the patient wanted to be remembered for what he was before his illness, not the skeleton of a man he had become.

MEMORIES VERSUS LEGACY

Reflecting and recording can be done on your own or with help from a service, and it doesn’t just apply to end of life. Any important event that invokes strong feelings can also be recorded. Capture your thoughts during the proud moments of a graduation or wedding, or the horrific moments of a terrorist attack like we saw on 9/01/2011, or the domestic attack on our Capitol on 1/6/2021. It doesn’t have to be done with multimedia. Writing in a diary will do. One of my favorite stories is the one I wrote after my son Adrian was born, when memories were fresh and emotions high.

MEMORIES AND LEGACY VERSUS JUNK

You might ask what you want people to know about you after you die, but will they want to? Or, will they just see all the stuff you collected as junk and ignore or trash it?

Consider these questions now, because it’s not just about your physical “things” but your photos, movies, and digital recordings too. In The Legacy of a Digital Generation, I address issues of digital media and the effort required to sift through digital clutter.

While your parents may have left you a few precious photo albums or framed photos and paintings, what will you leave for your kids and grandchildren? Today’s smartphones and near unlimited storage capacity, on the device or in the cloud, encourage us to take photos and videos by the thousands or millions, making it much more difficult to find that precious moment to remember. So, will they just forget? Think about it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wayne Caswell is a retired IBM technologist, futurist, market strategist, consumer advocate, sleep economist, and founding editor of Modern Health Talk. With international leadership experience developing wireless networks, sensors, and smart home technologies, he’s advocated for Big Broadband and fiber-to-the-home while also enjoying success lobbying for consumers. He considers himself independent, but leans left to support progressive policies. (contact & BIO)