Saturday, October 01, 2011

The Journal: My Future Legacy

I celebrated a birthday this week and this is one of the wonderful gifts I received from my daughter. She wrote the first entry in "The Journal" and I cried. What an honor to have someone speak this kindly about you. Especially someone who has lived with you and has seen not just good stuff about you, but also the bad and ugly things that we try to hide from the world.

This will be the one and only time that I share "The Journal" with you. It will now become a very private part of my daily life. It will be my legacy in writings for my daughter and grand children.

I am committed to writing in the journal in my own handwriting which is not exactly neat. Thankfully, The Journal has lined pages. I plan to make my first entry tonight. I already know what I want to share.

Life is an incredible adventure. When I lost my Dad a few years back, I wish there had been a journal that allowed me to remember his life... in his own words...in his own handwriting. With all the electronic devices on the market, we have lost sight of how much a handwritten page, thank you, poem, or journal entry can mean. It's our personal postage stamp on life. We write, we scribble out things, we have misspelled words, but it makes us human. It makes the reader believe what we have written. They become engaged in our thoughts and feelings at that particular moment because there is no "send" or "delete" button. Call me old-fashioned, but I like that.



The first two quotes listed in The Journal read:



"There are two lasting bequests we can give our children; One is roots. The other is wings."- Hodding Charter, Jr.

"There is a point at which you aren't as much mom and daughter as you are adults and friends."- Jamie Lee Curtis
I've have always told my daughter, "If you weren't my daughter, I would want you for a friend." Lucky me to have both a daughter and friend. It was a good birthday. Not only because I was gifted this wonderful journal, but because so many other family and friends extended well wishes and made me feel that my life is important to them. I think that's all any of us can ask for. We want to know that we matter, that our life, our work, our talents, our efforts count for something. As the owner of GoPlanetEarth, I would like each and every one of my customers to know that you count and you're important.















1 comment:

Lois Lobbs said...

Denise, what a precious precious gift. Jamie is such a treasure. You gave her so much love and I know how many times you sacrificed many things you would have liked so your daughter could have pleasant moments. You gave to her a strong sense of values. Now you are a big part of passing those values and love to your grandchildren. God is good and God is faithful.