We all love a good story. Especially good stories that involve our family and loved ones. We love to hear how grandma and grandpa first met and fell in love. We love to hear how our family used to own land or businesses that thrived in the local community. But more than anything, we love having tangible examples of that history so we can ensure the story lives on.
If you nodded your head in agreement over the last paragraph, the question is what are you doing right now to preserve your legacy so the generations after you will have something to revere and reflect upon?
It dawned on me a few years ago that Ronnie and I were not only attempting to establish a legacy of wealth that generations after us could take advantage of, but we were also establishing a legacy of love. We want to create a foundation through our marriage that allows those who come after us to know that happy, healthy and productive marriages do and can exist. We want those who come after us to know they are a part of the legacy, so it is their birthright!
“We want to create a foundation through our marriage that allows those who come after us to know that happy, healthy and productive marriages do and can exist.”
To establish this legacy of love, we are purposeful when it comes to documenting moments in our family history now as they happen. We take more pictures, we chronicle our lives in articles like these, and we make decisions based on how they will benefit, not just our children, but their children as well.
Here are a few steps you can take to preserve your legacy of love:
Pictures:
Take pictures at milestone events like birthdays, graduations, the first day on a new job, the first day you start your own business, etc… Then, just as important as taking the pictures, preserve them by either printing them out or storing them on an external hard drive or in the cloud. Having tons of pictures on your cell phone that’s bound to break or be replaced at some point doesn’t help anyone.
Journaling:
Keep a journal where you share thoughts, events and what’s happening in your life. I often ask older members of my family how things happened when they were younger or what their thoughts were during major events that I didn’t experience, like the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Keeping a journal ensures those thoughts are preserved for generations to come.
Share:
Tell your history to your family members both older and younger. Passing down stories orally is a tradition that traces back to our African roots, and you can continue that legacy in your own family. Make sure you tell the good and the bad stories so there can be a true perspective on your life after you are gone.
Hopefully you’ll begin to put a few of these practices into place so your untold story will be told. We encourage you to create a legacy of love in your family that will stand the test of time.
And this this is why we are so happy about the Wells Fargo: The Untold Stories Collection, a story-telling initiative that offers a glimpse of what it means to be African American today. It’s comprised of a collection of videos of African Americans from across the country that are sharing their inspiring untold stories. Here’s one of our favorite videos where Jessie Stallings shares how her father’s stories instilled a sense of pride, self-worth, compassion and love in her, in her children, and even her grandchildren. It’s an excellent example of how sharing your untold stories can leave a legacy of love for your family for generations to come.
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Disclosure: This is a sponsored post brought to you by Wells Fargo. I have partnered with them to spread the word about the Wells Fargo: The Untold Stories Collection. All opinions and stories are my own.