Your Legacy smile

THE LEGACY SEMINAR

2012-01-17T16:25:00.000-08:00

7-9 pm, January 31, Tsawwassen Arts Centre

Robb Lucy will host a provocative
educational and highly useful
seminar. Your thoughts, wisdom
and stories may appear in his
book on Legacy.

SO, WHAT IS A LEGACY ANYWAY?

Well, it’s NOT about death and money. It’s about life!

In this seminar you'll learn how to create and enjoy your Legacies now… knowing others will benefit from them when you’re ‘gone’.

We will:

Re-shape and define what Legacy is… and give you the knowledge and skills to create Legacies you’ll be proud of.
Show that Legacy-building can be empowering, fulfilling and fun… NOW!
Show that Legacies (yes, you can have many) can be large or small
Affirm that Legacies can, and should, be created now when you can enjoy them.
Understand you can build Legacies at any age! You don’t have to be nearly dead!

You’ll learn:

Perspective. Is size important? What about Legacy and ego, religion, gender and happiness? How do they work together?
Options: We’ll discuss and work on three major areas of Legacy building. Your imagination will spin with the choices you have!
What now? You will begin to build, with new skills that night, a powerful Legacy you’ll be proud of.

Who leads this seminar?
Robb Lucy is a Vancouver writer and producer. He co-founded the Make-A-Wish Foundation in BC, and was a Director of MAW Canada and MAW International. He was a Trustee of the BC Sports Hall of Fame, Chair and host of the Peter Gzowski Invitational Golf Tournaments, a Big Brother, and a member of the founding Committee of the Business Laureates of B.C. Hall of Fame.

WHAT: The Legacy Seminar **FREE**
WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 7-9pm
WHERE: Tsawwassen Arts Centre, 1172 56 St. Delta, BC

And btw.... NOTHING is being sold.

RSVP via email to: stories@yourlegacysmile.com or call 604-874-7700 with the number of people attending, their names and email addresses.

This will be an invigorating evening... and I look forward to seeing you there.

Robb Lucy

back to CARP
back to Legacy blog

2011-12-16T18:12:00.000-08:00

There are TWO kinds of posts here:

STORIES...collected so far tell about Legacies others are leaving. Maybe they'll get your imagination going?

LESSONS...include stuff to learn about leaving a Legacy. Maybe there's something to try?

WARMING THE FUTURE...

2011-12-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

From: Sandra Price, a Reader's Digest subscriber responding to the article about our Legacy project:

Robb's note: Remember the definition of 'Legacy': something you create that enhances lives now, and when you're gone? Very simple Legacies can provide benefits for years... & years...

When my children were small and I was a stay-at-home mother, I learned to crochet, knit, needlepoint, cross-stitch, etc. Among my many projects, I crocheted baby shawls (blankets) as gifts for family and friends. Initially, I tried to keep coloured ones on hand until I decided that white was universal. I've often thought I should sit down one day and try to figure out how many I have given away over the years. I would think two dozen anyway. I've met moms who have tucked the blankets away when they're done with them to pass onto the next generation.

As I work away on the next one, on a winter's evening, I often wonder which little soul this blanket will keep warm.

That's my legacy.

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SQUEEZE THE BEAVER...

2011-11-29T13:36:00.001-08:00

… off a nickel. That’s what we in Canada would say about someone who’s cheap, or spends little money. Same as ‘penny pinching’.

And that’s what most charities do says Dan Pallotta, author of “Uncharitable”

His thesis: Charities are at a huge disadvantage because there are two rule books: one for capitalism, one for charity. In Capitalism, you spend money to make money. In the charity world, you don’t spend money. Get your admin cost down! Donors will only donate when costs are low, low, low. Then most of ‘my’ money can go to the cause.

This way charities are always ‘squeezing a beaver’, ‘pinching a penny’… begging for funds.

Pallotta wrote his book as a response to media reports about a charity spending $400,000 to raise $1 million. A million dollars they never would have had without spending the $400k.

This goes against the donor-mindset of wanting at least 90 percent of the donation to go toward the cause. Every non-profit executive director is fearful of that percentage. Spend more than 10%, and it’s extravagant.

I heard this often in my days as a charity director. "A dollar spent on advertising could have been spent on the cause." Pallotta’s argument is that exposing new supporters to the cause can result in a tenfold increase in donations.

Pallotta’s organization made $305 million in nine years for charities because they used those capitalist tools: marketing, advertising… and thinking much bigger than charities normally do.

“If the nonprofit sector has to do without the successful tactics of the business sector--say, marketing--how can we expect the non-profit sector to aspire to greatness?” says Pallotta. “How will it ever grow, get results, and reach new supporters?”

You, as a Legacy builder, and donor to the charity of your choice, should answer 16 questions in his book says Pallotta. They will reveal "What has the organization achieved, and what can it achieve with my donation?" They will show fundraising ratios and program expense ratios to be silly, useless, and even fraudulent way to compare the "efficiency" of a charity.

Pallotta told me Legacy builders must align themselves with an organization’s values and principals. If they have defined their ultimate goal... how bold are they? Will they take a risk? Will they buck the system to reach that goal?

If so, says Pallotta, there may be no beaver or penny pinching necessary in the future.

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MY LEGACY: A SAFE, AND WILD, BEAR.

2011-11-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

A camping trip when I was seven introduced me to the grace of bears. A lemonade stand later that summer in support of protecting the Kodiak bear taught me that I could make a difference in determining their fate.

That is a Legacy I now persue.

For more than 15 years, I’ve been focused on giving a voice to one of the rarest animals in the world – the 400 white Kermode or spirit bears living only on Canada’s west coast.

When I first began to understand the threats facing this genetically unique bear, I was shocked we – as a society – weren’t doing all we could to safeguard its future.

The Spirit Bear Youth Coalition was created over hamburgers in my parents’ basement. We sought to do environmentalism differently – empower youth, focus on economics, seek to create balance in this debate.

With a network spanning more than 75 countries and numbering larger than six million, the Youth Coalition was able to work with stakeholders to create a framework agreement that would establish the largest land protection measure in North American history, without placing the burden on taxpayers or local economies.

More work remains, from protecting that critical final third of the bear’s territory in order to sustain the bear’s genetic viability… to ensuring this wilderness is a true sanctuary, free of trophy hunting and without risk of oil spills from passing tankers. We will achieve our vision thanks to the forthcoming Hollywood animated movie, The Spirit Bear - the first movie made with the specific goal of protecting its namesake – with partial proceeds used to fund the additional conservation measures.

Though my life journey has only begun, the legacy I started to create with a lemonade stand at seven has grown to levels I never dreamed.

If I can succeed in helping save the spirit bear, there may be two legacies left:

The conservation of a globally important ecosystem offering generations a reminder of all that is truly wild and free.
A blueprint for balanced land-use planning that can be duplicated around the world, with a reminder that one young person with no remarkable skills or intellect, but armed simply with a passion, can take hold of a cause and unite the world.

D. Simon Jackson
http://www.spiritbearyouth.org/
dsjackson@spiritbearyouth.org

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MY TEACHERS - THE ANIMALS

2011-10-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

by Samuel B. Ross, Jr., Rotarian, Brewster, NY

When I was ten years old I lived on a farm as part of a boarding school I attended. I was fascinated with the large and small animals, and became involved in their care. I found being around animals relaxed me and helped to ease any homesickness. Those moments defined my life’s direction, and would also become one of my father’s legacies.

Years later at a school with no animals, I knew I could do better and decided to open a boarding school on a farm where children could get a good education, while learning about the animals.

In 1947, with a gift from my father, I founded Green Chimneys Farm for Little Folk (http://www.greenchimneys.org/). As a 19 yr. old headmaster, one of my first young boarders was very homesick, and I knew what to do from my own childhood experiences. I took him out to the barn to visit the animals. He was excited to learn he’d be responsible to take care of an animal while at school.

Today, the majority of our 200 students have special needs. At Green Chimneys the children learn what it means to bond with an animal. They make a difference in the lives of the animals, and the animals make a difference in the lives of the children.

I’m now 81. I think I made the right decision 60 plus years ago when I asked my father to buy me a farm for a school for young children. His legacy, and maybe mine too, are thousands of happy and well-educated children who learn lots about life from the animals they love.

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CREATIVE SPUDS...

2011-10-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Whoda thought potatoes would grow a Legacy?

In 1996, the rec centre and swimming pool in Carberry, Manitoba, Canada were falling apart. Don Forbes and a few friends knew they had to get it fixed up. The kids in their small community needed it.

Don gazed across the fields to the potato processing facility, a big employer in town, and came up with an idea: ask the company for 40 acres and a bunch of seed potatoes. Don’s committee would find the farmers to fertilize, cultivate, harvest, grade and sort them… then sell them back to the potato company.

The company liked the idea. That year 102 people showed up on harvest day to sort the potatoes… and they made about $40,000. “We were flabbergasted” said. Don. They did it again the next year…. and with $83,000 from the spuds, and $90,000 from a new ‘Founders Club’, they began the Carberry and area Community Foundation.

Spin forward to today, the community Foundation has $1.6 million in its endowment fund. They’ve granted over $500,000 to charitable organizations in the North Cypress area of Manitoba. They’ll make about 25 grants this year.

“The spuds were the catalyst to get us going” said Don. “It’s not my Legacy,” he humbly said, “but the Legacy of our first committee.”

And news of their success has travelled. A family who moved out of the area 40 years ago just sent the Foundation $100,000.

So, a Legacy of a healthy community Foundation all from looking into the eye of a potato. Whodathot…?

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SHANNEN'S CREATING CHANGE

2011-09-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

Shannen O’Brian saw a need, felt the challenge, and is now, at the ripe age of 29, continuing to enjoy building a Legacy that is changing many lives.

The quick story:

She was teaching in Africa. Then work for several NGO’s. But she didn’t like what she saw. “I witnessed two problems over and over again” she said. “Inefficiency and corruption.”

She wanted to help the people of Ghana, west Africa, and knew a little would go a long way.

“For anyone that has been to a poor rural village in almost any country in the world, you will find hardworking, capable, people who still have joy in their lives, even though they may be facing incredible hardship.”

The needs: water and education.

“No matter what you might do to help poor people” said Shannen, “water is the first and absolutely the most important step. Without clean water, our most vital and necessary human need… nothing will ever get better.”

The girls in the small villages of Ghana do the ‘housework’ – haul the water & firewood, cook, clean, take care of the little ones. There was no money for them to go to school.

“The worst part was the costs that were causing these girls to drop out- usually it was because of less than $10 a month. I had one of those ‘aha’ moments you hear people speak about. I was going to make a difference” said Shannen.

She created http://www.createchangenow.ca/… and in the last five years has changed many lives. Hundred of girls have graduated from school, wells have been dug, piping is going in… people are healther in mind and spirit.

Shannen and her staff in Ghana use video to link donors in N. America to their projects. “People are excited about the possibility of being linked to someone across the ocean, through their computer screen. For me, this is the most exciting part of it all.”

Take a look at http://www.createchangenow.ca/ to see the beginning of Shannen’s legacy.

And she’s not done. As an entrepreneurial legacy builder, Shannen has launched http://www.karmaexchange.com/, a program like Groupon… but with a BIG difference:100% of the profits will go to support the projects of Createchangenow. It’s being launched in Vancouver, BC… and from there to… who knows?

She’s young, very determined, focussed and smart.

So.... who says you have to be old to have a Legacy?

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THE ANGKOR WELL PROJECT

2011-01-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

On a recent trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, I met a quiet man pursuing a large Legacy: bringing health and prosperity to Cambodian villages.

Ouk Sophal (we called him ‘Paul’) is 37 years old and makes his living as a tour guide in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the city adjacent to the Angkor Wat temple complex… and the other 80 temples in the countryside.

Paul and his first well

In 2005 Paul was showing a Mississippi couple some rural villages and homes, especially the very shallow, hand dug water wells filled with dirty, polluted water the families were forced to use for cooking, washing and drinking. They were also the constant source of disease and sickness, from typhoid to diarrhea. And there was little water to grow new crops or better their lives. They had none of what we take for granted.

Paul wanted to drill them safe, sturdy wells that would supply abundant, clean water. The American couple agreed to donate the funds, and soon two new wells sprung clear, cold, fresh water from 100 feet below. It was the beginning of the Angkor Well Project.

Paul put up a sign with the couple’s name on it and sent them a picture. Funds for new wells began to flow from around the world.

That year Paul and his team dug and produced 30 wells. There are now over 400 fresh water wells in northern Cambodia because of Paul’s efforts. And each of them should last 20-30 years.

Paul has budgeted them down to the penny. $350 will pay for the six-man crew, the piping, pump, concrete pad and water testing done in Phnom Penh. Paul takes not a dime. “We have only one life,” he told me. “I’m happy, I feel good, helping people.”

And we saw what this new supply of fresh, clean water produces. Not only happy, healthier, cleaner people…. but new crops of vegetables they couldn’t grow before. And the energy this clean water gives each community has grown into new roadside businesses, from selling woven textiles to delicious palm sugar treats.

I asked Paul if he understood the concept of ‘Legacy’. He said no. I told him his Legacy today is thousands of healthier, happier people… and he might never know the good that one of those smiling children might bring to the world when they grow up. He said he just wanted to do more.

If you’d like to contribute $350 and have Paul dig a well with your name on it, contact him at phal_guide@yahoo.com. He’ll send you instructions to wire your funds. When the well is finished, he’ll send a picture of the well, the sign with your name on it… and the gathered families whose lives you will have changed.

PS. From the “What goes around, comes around.” dept.
In 1999, Paul told his touring clients about his wife, in bed for seven years with severe scoliosis, a life threatening curvature of the spine. Her back was so curved she looked at her knees, unable to raise her head. Paul didn’t know his clients were American doctors from the Butterfly Foundation http://www.butterflyfoundation.com/ on a brief holiday from their mission in Vietnam. After checking her, they insisted on taking her to Hi Chi Minh City the next day.

Two days later after blood tests and x-rays, an operation was performed that changed her life. Paul said ‘She would have died in a year without that operation.’ Geraldine Collado and her husband, Dr. Andrew Moulton, told me from New York that she ‘came back to life and showed her true beauty'. 20 days later Paul and his wife walked out of the hospital and flew back to their three children in Siem Reap. His wife began a new, productive life, and Paul continues to dig wells.

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PICTURE YOUR LEGACY?

2010-05-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

...with a few simple images.

Ever wonder what's reeeeeely important to you? More simply: what are the three key values that drive you? What values make up the foundation of your very being? Are they the springboard for everything you do... and want to do?

Yikes. Heavy stuff.

I've been working with pictures all my life. Yes, each is worth a thousand words. But I think a picture also evokes ONE feeling, or value. It's that one feeling/value we turn into a thousand words.... or a thousand actions.

So, the trick is finding those three pictures... and our three key values.

One group has an application to help you. http://www.2164.net/ is part of the Bronfman Foundation. They work on the intergenerational issues that can come up in family philanthropy. Basically, how to make philanthropy and giving real, personal and important for each generation that begins to make decisions.

They've produced a tool called "Picture your Legacy".... and you can find it here. Or download the "Picture your Legacy" app on your iPhone.

They say:

"What does a dancer leaping across the stage, a redwood tree or a lighthouse beacon say about the person you aspire to be? Picture Your Legacy guides you towards articulating your legacy- in business, philanthropy, or life. It is often difficult to write from scratch your vision for what you want to accomplish in the world. Images can be helpful in stimulating the process in way words may not."

So, I downloaded the iPhone app... and went thru all the pictures a number of times. Each time the same three pictures resonated with me. Each picture meant one thing to me, and the three were:

1. Freedom 2. Peacefulness 3. Creativity.

These needs have always been prevalent in my life. And I can see them in the underpinning of the non-profit work I've done. Most importantly, I now know I want to ensure they're in anything I create as a Legacy.

So, give it a try. Then maybe ask yourself: 'Are these three values incorporated in the Legacy I'm building...?'

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WHAT'S A GRANDPARENT TO DO...?

2010-04-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

By Anthony Ketchum, CARP member, Toronto, Ontario

Recently we had our first grandchild. In a flash I understood the awesome responsibility I had for this little girl's world.

For many years I had been involved in efforts to conserve, to reduce obvious pollution, to remove waste effectively. Indeed my wife and I had constructed a self-sufficient, ‘off-grid’ home north of Toronto that created its own energy, gathered rain water and dealt with its own waste efficiently.

However, the more I studied the climate crisis the more alarmed I became about the world my granddaughter would inherit. The lives of hundreds of millions of people throughout the world are threatened by our addiction to growth, the population explosion, the fossil fuel crisis, the loss of topsoil and the poisoning of the biosphere.

My grandaughter might witness the increasing severity of storms and hurricanes and their destructiveness, the loss of Arctic ice, glaciers and permafrost, even the flooding of low lying land and the creation of millions of environmental refugees.

What should an ordinary grandparent do?

My wife Mary and I gathered a handful of friends and for the last two years we have met monthly, read as much about the issue as possible and have created a website: http://www.forourgrandchildren.ca/.

We began searching for allies; people concerned about how their children and grandchildren would fare in a world of less, rather than more.

We came upon CARP, an organization dedicated to the active societal involvement of mature Canadians. Its members care about the world and understand that their legacy to their grandchildren should be providing the environment for a quality future.

I cannot ensure that my grandaughter will have happiness, a sense of accomplishment and contentment in her life's journey. But we hope our Legacy will be a world in which those outcomes are possible!

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SO, HOW'S THAT DOG OF YOURS...?

2010-04-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

By Jack Mayo, Rotarian, Austin, Texas

Veterinarian Dr. Frank Goldsmith had the delightful ability to not only match names with faces; he even remembered the name of our dogs! It was fascinating to watch him work the room. “Hello Ed, how’s Growler doing? Hi Bill, is Rover adjusting to your son going off to college?” and so forth. Frank not only cared for his patients and their masters, he cared for our entire community.

We had thought the drug culture was only a problem in run-down sections of large cities, but by the mid-1980s it was reaching schools in affluent neighborhoods. Frank formed a committee to bring celebrity athletes to a series of drug awareness sessions at our middle and high schools. Frank made it cool to say no to drugs.

Within a year Frank created the Clean Foundation, a drug prevention and rehabilitation program providing inspiration, motivation and recognition for students who pledged to serve as role models for clean living. The Clean Foundation became a major program in our school district, and due to its success and acceptance, Frank went on to form a countywide coalition that helped prevent substance abuse by young people.

By the time of Dr. Goldsmith’s death nearly 30 years later his mission had been fulfilled. Frank’s legacy is simple: youngsters who meet the Clean Foundation learn that drugs are dumb.

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THOSE WERE THE DAYS...

2010-04-08T16:33:00.000-07:00

by Glenn Wallace, Rotarian, Germantown, MD

Spring cleaning isn't an enviable task. But while searching deep under the basement stairs, I discovered a real legacy.

My mother-in-law and her brother, Patience and Frederick Day, spent decades researching their family genealogy. Their efforts focused mostly on their paternal ancestor, a 19th Century gentleman from Boston, Mr. Moses Day. Every bit of collected information was hand written on scraps of paper and neatly organized into various binders. It appeared repetitive and disheveled, but their process was slow, methodical and orderly.

When they passed away within four years of each other, their research was neatly packed up in storage boxes and somehow ended up under my basement stairs.

When the boxes once again saw the light of day, they were on the verge of going to the county dump. I can’t say for sure why I decided to cut through the packing tape, but when the cover was opened, my outlook on life took a new direction.

Inside, among all the scattered papers, the few photographs, the deeds, and census records was a puzzle that I just had to solve. For the next two years, I was able to extract every ounce of information and input it into a proper genealogy database. The family tree started to grow, and grow, and GROW. All of the questions written on the sides of the notebook pages now had answers. The Day family tree was enormous… and about to expand.

Once the direct family lineage was established back to Moses Day and his ancestral line, I began looking for his descendants through each of his children. As of today, I have discovered 387 relatives that Patience and Frederick never knew. In their honor, I’ve made contact with every living member of the Day family tree and shared the legacy they began.

So, needless to say, when I opened those boxes… it was a very good Day!

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REPORT THE TRUTH. FIND YOUR HEART.

2010-03-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

by Howard Schlossberg, AARP member - Chicago, IL

If basketball players leave it all on the court, football players on the field and hockey players on the ice, where does a journalist-turned-professor leave his legacy?

In the classroom? The newsroom? The fringe of the court, field or ice? The post-game interview? The keyboard? The blackboard?

After 30 years as a sports reporter-turned-business writer-turned-college journalism professor, I’m not sure I know. I’ve always felt that legacies write themselves instead of people writing them for themselves. You do it through your words, actions and examples.

I’ve never had a “legacy game plan” and likely never will.

If I am to have one, I hope my legacy includes teaching my students to leave no questions unasked, or unanswered. I hope I convince them to go beyond what people saw at the game and tell them why they saw what they did, something you don’t get from a seat in the stands or from commentators on TV describing a replay you’ve already seen.

I hope my legacy is being written as you read this: reaching into the hearts and minds of young people who may fix the mistakes my generation made in news reporting, however unintentional.

Mistakes like taking Mark McGwire’s and Sammy Sosa’s extracurricular-fueled home run derby as a miracle that saved a sport, instead of a monster that tore down its biggest heroes. Mistakes like not asking the questions that would’ve forced Pete Rose to admit his sin against his sport in his first autobiography instead of his third.

Mistakes like letting the Jayson Blairs and Stephen Glasses of the world fabricate stories in the NY Times and the New Republic.

These were scandals that cost my craft its credibility. Some of journalism’s best people mistakenly backed these false gods, and lost their hearts as a result.

It takes a lot to get your heart back. I hope my Legacy is to convince my students to put their egos aside, find only the truth… and their true hearts.

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JUST A SIMPLE 'YES'...

2010-03-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

Dick Wallace, Rotarian - Bartonsville, PA

I never knew that a simple “yes” 23 years ago would become one of my Legacies. That ‘yes’ provided a little girl with the opportunity to live life to the fullest.

Mara came into my life as a four-year-old orphan from Lima, Peru. She was six months old when a crib fire destroyed her legs, and they were removed. At two she was placed in an orphanage where it was discovered she had a congenital heart condition and needed surgery. She was a little girl with no future.

So, here’s the ‘yes’ part. As chairman of a program called Gift of Life in New Jersey, I received a call from the orphanage asking if I could help her. You know the answer.

But, I didn’t do it alone. Mara came to New Jersey and received help from host families, doctors, nurses, staff, and other caring individuals that provided prosthetics, adoption, education… and friends.

My Legacy moment came at a conference years later that Mara was speaking at. She walked down the center aisle with a healthy heart and new family while 400 people proudly watched her begin a new stage of life. That walk epitomized the impact of what caring and sharing people can provide.

Today, she is pursuing a career in Prosthesis Technology.

So, my simple “Yes” became the key to open the hearts and minds of many people to the needs of one child. It was a small action that still echoes in other lives. I realized that, yes, this is a legacy of mine. So easy to do. And now… so many more to create!

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WOW... LOOK WHERE THEY WENT!

2010-03-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

by Vivian Finlay, Rotarian - Homer, Alaska

When I was a young child living in Burma (now Myanmar), my grandfather said: “I will provide the tickets for you to visit us in the USA. In exchange I would like you to write a trip report”. This was the first time I would experience my grandfather’s legacy of writing about our travels… one that continues in our family.

My parents agreed… and this trip to North Carolina was to be the first time I wrote a trip report. The seed was planted; I have written many trip reports since then.

But it was my grandfather who wrote our family’s first trip reports. He also wrote about his travels to every country in the world that had a Rotary club in 1967-68 when he was President of Rotary International.

Then on to the next generation: he taught my Mother to write about her travels also. In 1947, before she entered graduate school, my grandparents traveled with my mother to the “Territory of Alaska”. My Mother wrote a detailed report about that trip which I only found and read after her death in 2009. It was illuminating. Her children also published a book of many of her writings for her 80th Birthday celebration. This is truly a valuable legacy in our family.

My trips include photos and videos; others are simple trip summaries. In 1983 when I moved to Alaska I began writing trip reports of remote river wilderness canoe trips that I took with my husband. One report is a digital photo show of our trip around Rotary District 5010 which covers 78 clubs in Alaska, USA, Yukon Territory, Canada, and the Far East and Siberian Regions of Russia.

My grandfather’s legacy is firmly planted in my husband, our 7 grown children, 22 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren and numerous nephews and nieces. There is joy in documenting travels and thoughts in trip reports. I know future family members will value the thoughts, feelings and observations that were written down ‘many years ago’. I hope this will stir them to add their written treasures. If so, my grandfather’s legacy is secure.

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THEY CALLED THEM 'SMURFS'

2010-03-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

The Blue Jackets reigned…

If the words ‘legacy’ and ‘smile’ ever belonged together at a world event, it was at the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver & Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

There were 25,000 of them. They were on the mountain slopes at 5am shovelling snow so the world’s athletes could go for gold.

They were on the roads and in parking lots ensuring transportation ran like clockwork.

They helped 3000+ accredited media do their job efficiently.

They stood in the sun, snow & rain for eight to twelve hours – beaming, taking tickets, maybe singing with the crowd. When you went to your seat to watch the world’s best, you were smiling.

They were on street corners, in the trains and busses, at the venues. If you wanted an answer with a smile (sometimes a hug), a blue-jacketed Smurf was not far away.

Simply, these volunteers made the Winter Games a memorable, joyful experience for athletes, spectators, media, the IOC ‘family’, and the Smurfs themselves.

Most Smurfs never saw an Olympic event or a medal presentation. They were ‘out there’, working. But they knew they were a part of the friendliest games ever.

The Legacy part? Each one of those 25,000 blue jackets may have changed the lives of just one of those who came. Maybe with a smile. Or a simple direction. Or taking that picture.

They were the volunteers of the Winter Games. Their collective Legacy is visitors whose lives have changed. Visitors who felt goodwill and pride on every corner, at every venue, on every street. Visitors who went home wanting more of what they experienced.

And that’s the key to Legacy: an action by a single person that continues to enhance other’s lives. Many blue jacketed Smurf’s no doubt caused many individual visitors to wonder how they can create that joy in their lives... and the lives of those around them.

As the announcer at many venues said:

"To the Start line please. Ready.........."

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A RIPPLE IN THE POND...

2010-02-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

...by Yvonne Stewart, AARP member - Ogden, Utah

It was a cold, rainy day… and an old box of photographs called to me. It’s the kind of box we have all saved memories in through the years. I had looked through the box many times, showed it to my children and pondered what my parents’ life had been like before they struck out for a new life and opportunities many miles away from the family homestead.

This day I was about to find the clue that would help me to learn who my grandmother really was… a beautiful, impossibly young-looking bride on her wedding day in 1900. But no matter how many times I looked, I hadn’t learned what she was like or how her life unfolded.

The clue was a faded obituary of a great uncle whose name I had never heard. It told the story of an extraordinary man, who at age 22 left home for a small North Dakota township and bought a weekly newspaper. He published his paper for two years before tuberculosis claimed him. The sentence that stood out for me was the one explaining that he had come home to his sister for his last months of life.

He and his sister had already lost both of their parents, and soon his life would end in one of the bedrooms in my grandmother’s home. In 1912, she had a husband and four little children; my dad was one of them. But she also had a brother with a very contagious disease that had no cure, and she cared for him till he died.

Everyday we make decisions and conduct our life without thinking of the ripple we cause in the pond. How many generations will be affected by what we do or don’t do on this day? My sweet grandmother had no way of knowing that a granddaughter not yet even born would view her unselfish act. Everyday is our legacy.

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A STUTTERING SUCCESS...

2010-02-25T11:48:00.000-08:00

... or a perfect 'failure' ? by Elizabeth C. Tedoldi, AARP member

My legacy is to tell you it can be amazing and completely fulfilling to be a “perfect failure.”

As a lifelong stutterer, I'm sure many people think I'm quietly shy. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am a successful, confident person quite at ease speaking in public. But things were not always that way.

Childhood was one torture test after another. One adult even told me I could never be anything but a street cleaner unless I stopped stuttering.

In college, I went to the placement office to be assigned a work-study job. After hearing me introduce myself, my counselor said she would have to get me a job where I wouldn't have to talk. I told her she'd have to get me a job where she wouldn't have to listen. But I was assigned to the library anyway. I guess the plan was, ''show up and shelve books.”

It didn't quite work out that way. After graduating magna cum laude, I became a supervisor in that library. I worked there while I thought about my future occupation. I decided to get my Master's Degree in Education.

I went on to become a happy, successful teacher for 32 years. Since I taught in a large, urban school system, meeting a multitude of children, parents and teachers who had one thing in common: their willingness to accept a teacher who was ''different.”

Teaching and stuttering was always a great boon to me. When a child would inform me she or he was giving up, I would inform them they could do so just as soon as I stopped trying to talk better. I could always relate to any student having a hard time.

I'm retired now, and quite content in life. When I speak in public, people still give me pitying looks. I agree. I'm an absolute failure: married for 30 years to a wonderful man, two extraordinary daughters, fantastic friends, and great memories of my profession.

My Legacy to you is this: you too can be such a perfect failure.

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MY LEGACY IS PAPER

2010-02-18T22:55:00.001-08:00

... and knowledge of their mother. by Barbara Leedom, AARP member

When my children go through my things after I’m gone, what they’ll find is paper.

My children will find black and white colored notebooks with lined pages. These are filled with quotations, notes to myself about books I read. There are musings, mine and others, on philosophy, psychology, astronomy and whatever my current interests were, ranging from the names of seashells to the derivations of words.

My diaries, in later years called journals, are in hard covered notebooks given to me by family and friends. Some have covers with photos of flowers, some with wildlife. And one is called “The Book of a Wild Woman.” I don’t remember who gave me this back in the ‘80s but it’s full of my life then.

I’ve been keeping diaries since I was 16, so there’s a lot of reading to do. Each time I wrote in them, I commented on the weather. My most voluminous writing on weather was during the ’78 Nor’easter, probably because my three young children, two dogs and two cats were holed up in the house for four days. I wrote furiously during that time.

Five loose-leaf notebooks hold five novels I wrote of the computer, one novel per notebook. None have been published, but I still have hope. At least they’re preserved in print, CD and hard drives.

I have drawers filled with little spiral bound books. These I carried with me, one at a time, wherever I went. I commented in my little notebooks while in the market, at the beach, in motel rooms and at the dentist’s. These are mostly about what people looked like and their conversations I’d overheard.

My Legacy for my children is knowledge of their mother. Oh, the things they’ll discover!

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'NOW, JUST WHO IS THAT...?"

2010-02-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

A professional photographer friend has about 30,000 images on his web site... and there's a name for each shot. He knows who's in it, where and when it was shot. And so would anyone else who looks at one of his images.

If we were only so organized with our family's pictures.

A few weeks ago I was looking at some of my parents old albums. I was left guessing "who's that...?" many times.

Bruce MacDonald thinks we need to spend quality time with our gene pool.

“We need our ancestors and our ancestors need us,” says MacDonald, a historian and writer whose company Invisible Hand Legacy Books specializes in corporate and family histories (http://www.invisihand.com/, bruce@invisihand.com). “We struggle today with pausing and reflecting, it’s thought of as a waste of time. That’s really too bad, because there’s so much to learn from the past, and so much to celebrate and enjoy.”

I look at one of MacDonald's legacy books with its fabric slip cover, gold foil stamping and debossing on the hard-bound front cover. The design draws you into the photographs... those iconic images of our parents’ and grandparents’ eras.

MacDonald says he mourns the loss of family stories and history. “People tend to have attics or basements with boxes of photos, albums, diaries, log books, letters, records and memorabilia of all description, but very, very few take the time to organize this material" he said. "At a minimum we should sit down with whoever has the family photos, whether it’s a grandmother or great-uncle, and work with them to record names, dates, and locations on the backs of photos.”

So, that's what I'll do in a few weeks when I head back to visit my 95 yr. old father. I'll take those old albums to the full care home he stays at... and we'll spend an afternoon putting down names, relationships & all the stories he can remember about each person in those pictures.

I know that when Dad goes, we'll have those stories. Without them, we'd lose our history, and a part of ourselves.

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FROM HAND... TO HAND... TO.....

2010-02-11T22:54:00.000-08:00

By Steve Bliss, Rotarian - Fenton, MI

As a young boy I remember going with my Dad to work on Rotary or Elks club projects. It could be helping out at the Farmington Ox Roast, or taking disabled kids to the ranch for a day of horseback riding.It was my Dad who took me… but I always felt better for going.

My father, William Bliss, was a person determined to do what he could to leave the world a better place than he found it. And his Legacy is that he instilled that in me.

Dad never explicitly told me anything like 'you'll never be worse off making someone else better off", or 'nobody can help someone else without helping themselves'. But his leadership and actions taught me these truths of life.

When I graduated from college in 1979 and settled into a small mid Michigan town with my wife, that spirit of community service my Dad put in me came alive with gusto.

I’m a past Rotary president, volunteer for charitable and church boards, Cub Scout leader, and regular donor to a variety of charities.

I now involve my two children, both adopted from Guatemala, in many community service projects in the hopes that Dad’s legacy will live on. Both of them now feel the power that comes from helping another human being.

I feel my Dad’s lighting the way for the rest of us to 'Leave a Legacy".

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WELL, WELL, WELL...

2010-01-30T17:37:00.000-08:00

A story of water By George Moore, Rotarian, Bloomfield Hills, MI

At 77, of all the legacies possible in all the many hats I have worn in my life, in and out of Rotary, there was one hat, one time, when I felt sure about a legacy. This is that story.

Some years ago, three Directors decided to encourage Rotary clubs in Mid-America, nearby the “Great Lakes”, to help provide water to people in India who had almost none where they lived. I was asked to coordinate the project, and in three years we raised and spent over $200,000 to put many hundreds of shallow wells in rural villages that had no water.

Soon after a few of us went to India to see what had been accomplished. Somebody “up there” smiled at me allowing me to see what I understand now is one of my legacies.

One sunny morning I was standing on a dirt street in the middle of a small rural village in Western India. I was looking at happy faces of men, women and children, dressed in their finest, who were laughing and playing around the the new tube well that was splashing cool, fresh, clean water into their shiny buckets. This was the first water well in that village.

This was the result of middle America raising money by selling pancakes or parking cars at the local fair. I helped coordinate the process so that the American funds got to the local Rotary Club in India and that small village got their well. The gladness in their hearts joined with mine, it was a wonderful feeling.

Many people work at “good deeds” not able to see results, but still believe in their hearts that 'good' will happen. This time I got to see it. I knew that the women and children who had trudged daily many miles to get the water needed for life now had time to study and work. I left knowing their lives had changed. It was a good feeling.

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A MOTHER'S DELICIOUS LEGACY

2010-01-25T17:45:00.000-08:00

... all started with some brownies. By Grant Lovig, Edmonton, AB, CARP

My mom was born in the kitchen, I'm sure of it.

My earliest memories are of her cooking. She not only cooked for her 4 kids, but regularly fed practically every kid in the neighbourhood as well.

Later, when my sister and I were school age, Mom extended her reach beyond the family home to the local banquet hall. I never questioned how she could possibly serve as many as 1500 people working out of our home kitchen. I supposed that explained the couple of extra fridges and stoves lining one wall of our 2-car garage.

Big plastic tubs of salad, large bowls brimming with vegetables and pre-portioned desserts carefully arranged in flat cardboard boxes were carried in an endless stream from our kitchen to Mom’s waiting car. I sometimes wonder how many trips she made up that hill from our riverside home into town. Most often she would be headed to another wedding banquet where the only instructions were “Jean, will you handle it?”

Mom’s days were always short on hours. In response, she developed a quick and easy style of cooking sure to wow family and friends without taking all day to do it. Frazzled mothers everywhere wanted more.

“Why don’t you write a cookbook?” Mom was asked. The rest of Canada and the world were about to meet my mother.

Soon Jean Paré and the Company’s Coming cookbooks would be household words. Long hours were spent writing and testing recipes, first in her home kitchen, later in a 3-bedroom bungalow my stepfather built for her to use as her test kitchen and office. Twice a year, the basement turned into a makeshift photography studio. As more titles were introduced, the company quickly earned the distinction of publishing Canada’s most popular cookbooks.

Company’s Coming continues to gain new supporters throughout the world by adhering to Mom’s Golden Rule of Cooking: never share a recipe you wouldn’t use yourself. It’s an approach that has worked— 29 million cookbooks sold in 29 years.

Every recipe Mom created and every product she produced upholds the family values and work ethic she instilled. That's her Legacy... and it continues to inspire me.

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SO, HOW OLD'S YOUR BRAIN?

2009-12-10T23:06:00.000-08:00

A story about our brains, our bodies... and time.

I was listening to Douglas Coupland (Generation X, jpod, The Gum Thief etc.) on the radio the other day. He and the host started talking about how old their brains were. They laughed that their brains were younger than their bodies. Sure, your brain is inside a body that's 'X' years old. But sometimes we have an experience that says: 'this is where I want my brain to stay'.

For me it happened in Bali, Indonesia... 1972. I was travelling the world for a year... and life was rich. Living on an undisturbed Kuda beach, life was new friends, experiences, sights, smells.... ... and Tiger beer (no relation!). On April 21, my 21st birthday, we had a grand feast at the bus station's outdoor 'restaurant'. I washed down satay sticks with many a Tiger... and life was grand.

Then an 'older man', probably 20 years younger than I am now, asked me if 'this was where you wanted to stay?". Though I didn't know my body would depreciate, my teeth would yellow, my hair would whiten and fall out... I knew I wanted my brain to stay 'here'. I wanted to stay full of 'P and V', full of adventure, curiousity, finding wisdom & joy in others... and needing to learn. I knew then I wanted my brain to stay 21 years old. The rest of me could go to seed.

You may have had a moment in your life where your brain 'locked in'... confirming, like me, you're just a kid in a body that's growing old.

If that's the case, and knowing time is precious, here's a quick exercise:

Draw a line, left to right. '0' on the left... and the age you think you'll get to on the right.
Then, mark your age now. Here's mine:

IF this is true, I'm 68.2% finished with my life. Only 31.8% to go.

If nothing else, this may give some clarity. And for some, a sense of urgency.

At this stage, Geoffrey Lane (http://www.geoffreyxlane.com/) asks people to answer these key questions:

In the time remaining:

What contributions do you want to make to your family?
What contributions do you want to make to your world?
What ways will you contribute to yourself?

Simple questions, tough answers.

Start with a very small act/answer for each question. When each one is done, the energy of completing it will probably give you another answer for that question.

And keep notes. Imagine the pride of reading a list of your Legacies when the body gets reeeeeel old. Your brain, of course, will still be a kid.

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SHELTERS FOR DIGNITY

2009-10-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

... with the help of 1.2 million Rotarian friends.

Tom Henderson got mad. But he never dreamed he'd change millions of people’s lives.

Tom was a retired Royal Navy search and rescue diver living in Cornwall, England.

One night in 1999, Tom and his wife were having dinner, the TV tucked in the corner. He saw pictures of people throwing bread off a truck to victims of a disaster. “Why not hand it to them?” he said. “They’ve already lost their dignity.”

Angry, he went to his office and wrote down what people in a disaster needed: Shelter, Warmth, Comfort & Dignity.

Tom then went about finding the materials a large family would need if they were displaced or made homeless because of an earthquake, flood, tsunami, volcano, cyclone, hurricane or manmade conflict. That night, ShelterBox was born.

Each Shelterbox contains a 10 person tent, multi-fuel stove, dishes and cooking equipment, groundsheets, thermal blankets, mosquito nets, water purification equipment, rain ponchos, children’s activity pack, tools and other survival equipment to keep the family alive after a disaster. The contents are tailored depending on the nature and location of the disaster.

“And everything’s new,” says Tom. ”Besides giving them warmth, protection, self-sufficiency and a smile… part of maintaining their dignity is receiving new, robust stuff of lasting value.”

In April 2000, ShelterBox was launched and Tom’s Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in Cornwall adopted it as its millennium project.

In January 2001 the first shipment of 143 boxes was sent to earthquake victims in the Indian state of Gujarat. By the end of 2004 nearly 2,600 boxes had been dispatched to 16 major disasters.

Then on December 26 2004, the devastating Boxing Day Tsunami rolled over much of S.E. Asia. ShelterBox faced its most significant challenge, one that would change its course forever. 22,000 boxes were delivered, almost 10 times the number sent out in the previous three years. Then there was Hurricane Katrina in the USA and the massive earthquake that hit the Kashmir region of Pakistan.

And most recently, of course, Haiti and Chile. Click here to find out how many families now have homes in that earthquake ravaged country.

Tom’s little idea has now shipped over 58,000 boxes to over 80 disasters in more than 52 countries. “I didn’t plan ShelterBox,” said Tom. “It was done in a heartbeat because the unfairness and lack of dignity upset me. Maybe that’s how some Legacies begin?”

More than 500 volunteers pack all ShelterBoxes in Cornwall, England. ShelterBoxes are stored in several locations around the world, allowing them to get to a disaster in 2-3 days. There they meet a specially trained ShelterBox Response Team who takes responsibility for customs, local transport and working with the local people to get the tents up and functioning.

“As a member of Rotary, I realized I had 1.2 million friends in 32,000 clubs around the world” said Tom. ShelterBox has become Rotary’s largest project in the world, raising half of ShelterBox’s funds and managing the projects.

Individual donors can track their ShelterBox around the world via their personal number on the side of the Box.

Tom’s goal is to provide shelter to 1 million displaced people in Africa, and emergency shelter for 500,000 disaster victims a year. “I didn’t set out to create a Legacy,” says Tom. “But if I’m creating one, it’s millions of people in our tents.”

Every six weeks there’s a disaster of some sort in the world. ShelterBox will continue to bring warmth, shelter, comfort and dignity to those who need it.

Legacy? “My message is: 'Don’t do nothing!'” said Tom. “If we all do a little bit, people’s lives will change for the better. That will be your Legacy.”

Go to
http://www.shelterbox.org/ or http://www.shelterbox.ca/

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SO, WADDYA KNOW NOW?

2009-05-07T18:25:00.001-07:00

... that you didn't know back then?

David Gould teaches Leisure Studies at the University of Utah. He asked his students to interview a person over 65 yrs. about their leisure & lifestyle when they were 21 yrs, and compare that to today's 21 yr. old.

Gould was surprised. Many students didn't want to do it. They didn't know an older person. And even if the grandparents were alive, they felt awkward asking those questions.

This was a generation gulf Gould knew had to be bridged.

He then asked seniors in the area to write a letter that he could share with his students. He asked them to give their insight on what they know now that they wish they knew in their 20s.

He waited a couple of weeks... then one Saturday morning the email flood of stories began. "I thought I had a virus" he said.

The stories were about life, loves, relationships, wisdom, aging and more. There were poems & pictures. The seniors wanted to reach out. They wanted to tell their stories.

Back to the classroom. Gould selected and read the letters, and the fuse was lit. Some students met their letter-writer and became quick friends. All the students learned the value, the joy and the fun of finally having a talk with their own grandparent. Students thanked Gould for helping develop deep relationship that weren't there before.

The stories continue to come in... and Gould has shared them with many classes in many institutions. You can hear the generation gaps close. And you can see the authors and read some of their stories at http://www.legacyletterproject.com/

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SO, DO YOUR KIDS/GRANDKIDS KNOW YOU?

2009-04-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

When they're older, your 'Legacy Letters' will be Gold!

Rachael Freed of http://www.life-legacies.com/ teaches the writing of 'Ethical Wills'. Sometimes they're called 'Legacy Letters'. Their purpose, and I paraphrase Rachael's thoughts, is to 'preserve wisdom... and be remembered.'

A Legacy Letter can be written to your kids or grandkids at any stage of life. A series of them, infused with experience, feelings and learning... will be powerful documents when the kids grow up. An example is this Legacy Letter written by grandmother 'Baba' to her grandkids.

Dear Jessie, Nick and Melissa:
You were aware, you were here to witness the most historically important event of my lifetime. I want to give you some background to the miracle of Barack Obama’s swearing in ceremony as he became the President of the United States of America.

In 1952 when I was 10 years old, my dad and mom drove our family to Florida. It was my first time driving through the South and the first time I remember seeing ‘Negroes’. Their dilapidated houses, which we called shanties, lined the sides of the roads, sometimes had only three walls, some had boards missing on the roofs. My nose was pressed to the window and I felt pity and curiosity, confusion and fear. I didn’t know about life beyond Minneapolis. We stopped to get something to eat and I wouldn’t eat the food from their stores, accepting only a coke because it was in a bottle.

In the 50’s and 60’s my eyes were further opened by protests and civil rights workers killed, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, and race riots as the struggle for equal rights played itself out. What an awful truth knowing that our country was wrong, when I had been raised to believe we were close to perfect.

During the fall of 2004 I was invited to attend a gathering to meet a young black man running for the Illinois senate seat. This young charismatic man, with grace and passion shared his belief that we could become a better nation. Honesty and openness, caring for those who are vulnerable and leading by example were values worth fighting for.

Martin Luther King, Jr. asked that we not be judged by the color of our skin but rather by the content of our character and that day November 4, 2008 arrived in my lifetime. The enormity of the emotions of that night and the days to follow cannot be expressed in words. We celebrated, we cheered, and many of us wept because the joy was too deep, the significance too great and the price too heavy.

The lesson witnessed is ANYTHING is possible and dreams can come true. My prayer for you, dear loves of my life, is that you pay attention to the world around you and not just your world. That you see others through eyes of love and not fear, that you are quick to see the similarities and slow to see the differences.
I love you, Baba

These Legacy Letters of your experience, feelings and learning needn't be long. But they can be powerful. Take a look at http://www.life-legacies.com/ for some ideas.

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WE GIVE THEIR SMILES BACK!

2009-02-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

...even if it means yanking a tooth!
Wonder what your Legacy could be? I wondered that too… as that big 'ole freezing needle pierced my gums. I was having a tooth pulled, then a bridge and new molar. I hated being in that chair, but Jack Hutchinson was good.

All done, we talked about our lives. Jack was organizing ANOTHER trip to South America, with his staff, to do dental work on the poor. All on his own nickel.

"We let them know there are people who care for them", says Jack. "We fill cavities, pull teeth, teach them how to floss and brush. Dentistry’s my way of giving back. And the payback is when they turn around and give you a big hug."

In the last few years, Jack’s organization http://www.dentistrywithheart.org/ has performed dentistry for over 10,000 people in Guatamala , Nicaragua, The Phillipines, Uganda and Mexico.

"We focus on girls 10-14 yrs." says Jack. "We fix their front teeth give their smile back. By changing their appearance, we change their self-esteem." Not to mention their health for the rest of their lives.

When Jack and his staff leave, who knows how many of those kids will become successes they never thought of? All because Jack gave what he does best: he took away the pain. And he let them smile again.

I asked if he thought this was part of his Legacy? "For sure!" he said. "I run into other dentists, doctors and private companies who say their lives have been affected because of what I started. What could be better than that?"

So, Jack's message: to start my Legacy journey, give what I’m good at now. "I've had a great life" he says. "This is the least I can do."

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A STROLL IN NEPAL...

2009-01-27T17:03:00.000-08:00

Hey... there's not a book in this library!!!
A couple of years ago we trekked in Nepal. Along the way and in every town I made friends with the kids. Beautiful, memorable smiles.

Little ‘Binod’ walked with me one afternoon as he was heading home from school. He only had a tattered notepad…and no books. For eighteen months I’ve toyed with doing something for him and his friends.

John Wood didn’t ‘toy’. He did something.

In 1998, John was a rising executive at Microsoft when he took a vacation that changed his life. He too was trekkiing in Nepal and visited a school with 45 students. But the library had no books. The headmaster said to John, “Perhaps one day you’ll come back with books”. And that was all it took.

John quit Microsoft, but took with him all his professional attributes: thinking big, goal-setting, how to run a lean operation with a big effect. John built “Room to Read” (http://www.roomtoread.org/) an organization that has created a network of over 5,500 schools and libraries throughout rural and poor communities in Asia and Africa. The organization is now one of the fastest growing, most effective, and award-winning non-profits of the last decade. John has been recognized in the worldwide media as a "21st century Andrew Carnegie," building a public library infrastructure to help the developing world break the cycle of poverty through the lifelong gift of education.

“You don’t have to be Bill Gates or Warren Buffett” says John. “I’m just an ordinary guy with a dream… and now we’ve put two million books in hands of kids around the world. You just need passion, energy and drive.”

John’s book "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World" tells the story of helping children in a rural Nepali village… and the development of 'Room to Read' quickly becoming a global movement promoting literacy and education. And it was just a good idea... and a bit of focussed talent.

Says John: "I agree! Create your Legacy while you're alive, when you can see it and enjoy it."

One of your Legacies could appear on your next walk. Keep your eyes open!

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SCRAMBLED EGGS... AND CHECKERS.

2009-01-18T21:14:00.000-08:00

So, what's your next move?

One of John Cardie's legacies will be kids who think before they act. Kids who thoughtfully plan their next move, when it counts.

John lives in Denver and was talking to his ten year old grandson and a few of his friends. The time seemed right to teach them a lesson. “I’ll buy you any car you want when you graduate IF you’ll do something for me” he said. The boys yelped their enthusiasm. “Any car?” they said. “Yup” said John. He gave them each a small cup and one egg. “Please scramble the egg,” John said. They did. “And now do this and you will get any car when you graduate.” They beamed and waited. “Unscramble it” John said.

Lesson learned. Once you scramble an egg, it’s hard to undo. His father taught him this. And he taught it to John by playing checkers. “Checkers teaches kids forethought, planning & consequences… the ability and necessity of thinking things through, “ says John. So he wrote a book: “How to beat Granddad at checkers” (http://www.checkerscreateskings.com/).

“It’s a book that helps adults teach kids thinking and planning… and that once you make a move, you can’t take it back" says John. "And that’s what life’s like." The book has been critiqued as “life lessons from a seasoned checker maven. A fun format for kids to read and understand,” but one for parents and grandparent too to help connect with and teach their kids. John donates sales revenue to the American Checker Federation youth program. He says “There’s more to checkers than pushing plastic”, and he knows his Legacy will be kids who recognize a ‘dumb move from a smart move’, in checkers and life.

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5 WAYS TO KICK START YOUR STORY!

2008-11-21T17:28:00.000-08:00

Enough thinking about it. Do it!
I think there's three 'streams' of Legacy... Legacy that you enjoy NOW, knowing others will benefit when your gone:

1. Money... what you can do with it to benefit others

2. Story... telling yours & your family's so your relatives hundreds of years from now know where they came from

3. Action... all the stuff you can do... like putting swings in a park for the kids, to teaching skills so lives are changed, to volunteering to build homes in a poor country, etc.

IF you'd reeeeely like to get your story down... for your kids and family and friends... but you're not sure where to start because writing just doesn't come easy, here are five tips from Dan Curtis http://dancurtis.ca/:

Keep a date with yourself. Set aside a 30 minute block of time when you won’t be disturbed. Mark it down in your calendar. Now here’s the important part. For 30 minutes begin writing about some aspect of your life. It doesn’t matter what. Just write. Don’t stop. Don’t worry about grammar or composition - just write. At the end of 30 minutes, stop. Get up from your desk and walk away. Congratulations! You’ve started your life story and you can come back and edit what you’ve written on another day.

Select a topic. It helps if you can focus your attention on a particular topic that holds some interest for you. Here are a few suggestions to get you started. My idea of happiness. The individual who had the greatest influence on my life. The qualities I admire in a friend. A childhood memory.

Choose a favorite object. We all have some favorite object that has been a part of our lives for some time. Mine is a little Nigerian thorn carving I collected many years ago when I was a volunteer in West Africa. Select your favorite object and write a story about how it came into your possession and what it means to you.

Pick a photograph. Look through your photo collection until you find a picture that brings back a lot of memories. Now write about that photo. Where was it taken? Who’s in it? What was happening?

Talk to me! If you’re finding it hard to write out your story, just talk and record into a simple voice recorder. Start by putting down five or six questions that you’re going to ask yourself. Next, turn on the recorder and interview yourself. Later transcribe your interview and edit it.

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"LET'S WATCH GREAT GRANDPA'S STORY!"

2008-10-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

I'm so proud we got the story!
There are many ways to create and enjoy a Legacy while you're alive, then leave it for others to enjoy when you're 'gone'. But two of the main 'streams' of Legacy are: Money & Story.

Money? Lots of ways to create legacies now with your money.... tax efficiently. I'll get to them in another post. And NO, you don't have to be rich.

The other main stream of Legacy is Story. Collecting the stories of those who are near & dear to us... before they're gone. The book I did with my now 95 yr. old father becomes more important the older he gets. That story here.

I talked to Stefani Twyford of Legacy Multimedia in Houston, Texas... and she said producing video profiles of those folks who soon may be gone creates three positive dynamics:

1. Connection
When reviewing and assessing a lifetime of memories, people reconnect with their roots and their core values. They begin to reflect on the things they did accomplish and how their lives had a positive impact on others. This realization helps them connect to their family, their childhood, their past. It it improves their sense of self-worth.

2. Recognition
Most biographies profile older family members, and by creating a personal history, many details about a person’s life are revealed. Their thoughts and feelings are expressed, events big and small are recounted, and their personality shines through. There's no doubt that family and friends come to understand and appreciate the person (and often themselves) better. New connections are made, old bonds are strengthened or renewed, and the family now knows their 'roots', their history, much better.

3. Pride
First, there's pride in the person profiled; pride that their story is now known by their family... and pride that generations to come will learn it too. And there's pride in each member of the family... proud to be part of Grandma or Grandpa's family... proud to be connected to the larger group. It is an affirmation that all their lives are rich with stories and worthwhile documenting.

As mentioned in earlier posts, IF you're thinking of collecting the history of one of your family members.... in audio, video or print... a good place to go is: http://www.personalhistorians.org/

Have you got a story about Legacy? Please send it to me at mystory@legacysmile.com ... or 'comment' below.

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THE DARK SIDE OF BEING A BOOMER

2008-09-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

Yes Virginia, there's some curveballs comin'
When we were young, Boomers set out to change the world (so how do you like it so far?). We are a generation who will 'rewrite the book on aging'. And, of course, there's all that money we have...

I talked to Geriatic psychology expert David Solie (www.dsolie.com), author of "How To Say It to Seniors: Closing the Communication Gap with Our Elders. He will say in a new book called 'Riptide' next year that Boomers should be ready for a 'psychological riptide, complex and confusing currents that undo much of the success of the first half of life'.

Yikes.

First will be the 'External forces.' Death of our parents... and with increasing frequency, other family and friends.

Then health... and job losses... and career apprehension... and.... well, you get the idea. I've felt all of this.

Solie says one primary task in Boomers' middle age is 'maintain stability in a world of increasing personal volatility.'

The other force is Internal: currents that question the purpose and direction for a second half of life.

When we entered the first half of life's stadium, society was there cheering us on to greater accomplishments. In the second half of life, Solie says Boomers may be surprised at how small the crowd has become, and how it can be surprisingly silent.

So the Boomer's second task in middle age? 'Discover purpose and direction'.

I think part of that joyful, fun, energetic, piss 'n vinegar direction is Legacy building.

Any thoughtful person of any age can change a small part of their world for the better. IF a small percentage of the 100 million or so Boomers born between '45 & '64 work now to leave legacies that positively impact others, well, the world could be a different place. And Legacies don't have to be Bill Gates' size. Much, much smaller can also have a big effect.

Last weekend some of my family were at my sister's beautiful place on the Kootenay River in British Columba. I asked my 94 yr. old father what he wanted his Legacy to be. I think I know what it is... but I wanted him to tell me. As a humble man he struggled and said he'd think about it. But I don't think he will be able to articulate it.

I don't want this to happen as I grow older. I can feel a bit of the 'Riptide', so I'm focussing on those big 'ole questions: purpose and meaning. The Legacies I create that benefit others will be mostly small, but they'll fire me. If that big black bear on the property gets me next visit, ask to read my 'Legacy Journal'.

Have you got a story about Legacy? Please send it to me at mystory@legacysmile.com ... or 'comment' below.

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GLORY IS FLEETING...

2008-07-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

....but obscurity is forever! Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

If you had a short document written by each of your long lost relatives telling of their lives, hopes & dreams.... would that be good?

I would LOVE to have even a one-pager from each of my grandparents telling me about their lives.

Generations from now, wouldn't it be... enriching... to know your relatives can read about you and your family - how you lived, your values, your triumphs and experiences?

Yup, that's all part of Legacy too. If you do a search for 'Legacy' on the web, you'll find hundreds of listings for people that will help you with your 'ethical will', or a family history book, a story in print, audio or video of good ole' Uncle Harry, Aunt Martha, Mom, Dad... or yes, you.

The best site is http://www.personalhistorians.org/.

TEN REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD RECORD YOUR STORIES:

No one else will do it for you.
No one else knows the stories of your life quite like you do.
You owe it to yourself and to your family.
Let your descendants know that you were a real person... and that they descended from you.
The stories you heard from your grandparents won't die with you.
The stories you created and were a part of will live on. They'll entertain and amaze your descendants.
You are part of where you lived. And if some of them still live there... it will be rewarding for them to see how their community has changed.
Describing what you did when you were young will seem pretty wierd to them... but it will be very entertaining reading!
Telling of your tough times will teach them how you, and everyone around you, coped. And you must might teach them something.
Your stories will make the world a richer place. When you 'go', they live on!

Have you got a story about Legacy? Please send it to me at mystory@legacysmile.com ... or 'comment' below.
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YIKES! THAT REEEEELY ME....?

2008-07-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

A quick story just heard....

'Fred' walked into a hospital foundation 'Donor Recognition' evening, and was shocked to see his name up in lights as a $500,000 donor. He hadn't written that kind of cheque. But then it all came clear...

Fred had arranged for a $500,000 life insurance policy to be owned by the Foundation.
Fred was the insured life. He paid the annual premiums to the insurance company.
The Foundation gave Fred a tax receipt for paying the premiums... as the Foundation was the owner of the policy and Fred was paying the premiums for the Foundation.

The result:

Fred felt great.... and began telling others how to do this. He knew his Legacy would be a better equiped hospital, and that was worth a smile.
It was a cost-effective 'donation' for Fred.
When Fred 'goes'... $500,000 will go to the Foundation, tax free. And there will be no tax consequences on Fred's personal estate either.

So, I did a little research. A $50,000, ten year term policy for a 50 yr. old healthy, non-smoking male would run $158 - $260 per year, depending on the company.

With a tax receipt, it could cost about $100/year for a $50,000 policy.

Now... that's Legacy Leverage.

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GIVING = HAPPINESS?

2008-07-05T13:16:00.001-07:00

So, like… what gives?

The University of Michigan's World Values Surveys (WVS) has compiled data on the happiest countries in the world for over twenty years. Here’s the latest:

World's Happiest Countries:

1. Nigeria

2. Mexico

3. Venezuela

4. El Salvador

5. Puerto Rico

Canada was 10th. The US ranks 16th.

Americans' personal income has increased more than 2 1/2 times over the last 50 years, but their happiness level has remained the same.
Americans are, on average, only 69 percent happy.The world population is, on average, less than 65 percent happy.
North Americans have never been wealthier, but over the past 50 years our increasing prosperity has hardly made a dent on our happiness while many conditions of well-being are in decline.

What’s goin’ on here?

Aristotle said: Happiness is a condition of spiritual well being.

Several academics study Happiness. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania studies happiness. He asks: "What are the enabling conditions that make human beings flourish?”
The answer:

1. Pleasure - short term stuff like a day at the beach, a good dinner with friends, hitting a homer.
2. Engagement - the depth of involvement with ones family, work, romance and hobbies.
3. Meaning - using personal strengths to serve some larger end and benefit others.

Hmmm. ‘Serve some larger end’?

Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan says:
“Giving makes you feel good about yourself. Giving puts meaning in your life. You have a sense of purpose because you matter to someone else.”

Mark Anielski wrote “The Economics of Happiness” http://www.genuinewealth.net/. He told me 40% of happiness is related to our social relationships. His mentor and friend in New York – Judy, the practical mystic – says that if we don’t give, our hearts atrophy.

Hmmm. A few thoughts as you consider crafting your Legacy ideas.

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SEVEN LEGACY MYTHS

2008-06-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

Ouch! Shouldn't we have talked about this... ?

My Dad's 95. All five kids have read his Will. We know what Dad wants and who gets what. When it's enacted, I'm sure it will be sad.... and smooth.

But Linda Somers parents' Will eventually caused great emotional cost and the destruction of family relationships. No matter how old you are, there are some non-financial issues that need to be dealt with for a Will to be successful. You can read Linda's story and her advice at http://www.will-help.com/

On her site, Linda tells of Allainz life insurance company surveying their older clients and heirs, and came up with "Seven Legacy Myths”.

Myth #1 - Today’s legacy is like any other generation’s
Nope. Today's 'elders' are the wealthiest the world has seen. There's more to hand down... and wills are more complicated. Families are more complex, varied and dispersed. More divorces, second marriages, step children & step grandchildren. The Legacy of these elders can be squabbling children and broken relationships.

Myth #2- Inheritance of stuff is the name of the game
Nope. According to the Survey, the most important elements that are wished to be passed down are: 1. Values and life lessons; 2. Instructions and wishes to be fulfilled; 3. Personal possessions of emotional value; 4. Financial assets or real estate.

Myth # 3 - Money is the most important legacy
Apparently not. Boomers are more likely to say their parents’ last wishes and possessions of emotional value are most important. But their parents are four times as likely to focus on financial assets and real estate. This deep misunderstanding can have tragic results.

Myth #4 - Money is the biggest source of conflict
Nope - Money is the least likely source of conflict during a legacy transfer. The greatest source of conflict? Fulfilling last wishes - 15%; Distribution of personal possession - 15%; Distribution of real estate - 11%; Choice of executor - 8%; Understanding choices - 6%; Distribution of finances - 3%.

Myth # 5 - Most Families Talk About Their Legacy Plans
The study discovered that less than a third of elders and boomers have had a comprehensive discussion. The reasons are personal discomfort; some elders think their children would be upset or in denial about death. Boomers are concerned about appearing greedy. And other Family conflicts cause the subject to be swept under the rug as it may cause more problems.

Myth # 6 - All Children are Equal
Ooooo... this is a tough one. Almost half of high net worth elders do not think that every child has the right to an equal share in their inheritance - twice the rate of lower net worth families. This develops if a child provides care for the parents, or has greater financial need. Many think the children deserve less if they cause conflict or disrespect the family..

Yup... Wills are part of Legacies. But when they're surrounded by a lack of communication and assumptions, trouble brews. Check out Linda's site http://www.will-help.com/ for some advice.

Have you got a story about Legacy? Please send it to me at mystory@legacysmile.com ... or 'comment' below.
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THIS BUS STOP WAS A 'GO'

2008-06-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

From: "The Smallest Kindness" file
A friend was at a bus stop four years ago. A woman of about 30 walked up, he said 'hello'... and they waited for the bus. He thought she glowed in her red and black outfit, but he was embarrassed to tell her. As the bus approached, he screwed up his courage and said 'I just want to say you look great, you glow, and that outfit looks terrific on you.'

They got on the bus. He never saw her again... until a couple of weeks ago.

She approached him in a supermarket and asked if he was the same guy that complimented her at a bus stop years ago. He said yes... and listened.

Four years earlier she was an unemployed mother of three, about to go on welfare because her husband left as an alcoholic gambler. She was frightened about the future... and on the way to a job interview.

She told him his comment made her feel the best in years... and she carried that into her interview. She got the job, and four years later she is now head of the Human Resources Dept. in a 750 employee company.

She thanked him for changing her life because she knows she got the job because a stranger said she was beautiful.

As he finished telling the story, his eyes were full of tears. I said "put this story in your 'My Legacies' notebook."

Great example doncha think... of a real, meaningful Legacy created from the smallest kindness?

Have you got a story about Legacy? Please send it to me at mystory@legacysmile.com ... or 'comment' below.

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PEDAL & PADDLE.

2008-06-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

Peter Marcus taught people to pedal and paddle around the world. He liked his life. 'If you don't like what you're doing three days a year, you're doing the wrong thing.'
Pete enjoyed his legacy because he saw it happening before his eyes. He was graciously in charge. He taught people the joy of the outdoors. The value of 'team'. The skill of knots. How to fix a flat. Care of your kayak. Reading the weather. How a meal tastes great when you cook it on a beach. Oh, and how to lose at Hearts.

Peter passed at 52 a few months ago. This past weekend 300 of his friends & clients-who-became-friends from around the world got together. En masse, we rode our bikes around Pete's stunning Grabriola Island off British Columbia's west coast... just like Pete did most mornings.

We stopped at Pete's grave... said hello... and kept on pedalling.

Then the celebration reeeely began. After many stories full of memories, laughter & tears... and with a bald eagle flying overhead ('Hey Pete, is that you?')... the bluegrass music kicked in.

Peter's Legacy includes all these people, all planning more trips around the world with their friends. He had it right: do what you love.... give of yourself because there's an inexhaustable supply... watch as your Legacy grows... and then just smile from above as we all say 'thanks' in the sunset.
Have you got a story about Legacy? Please send it to me at mystory@legacysmile.com ... or 'comment' below.

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TAKE THE STRAW OFF THE CAMEL'S BACK

2008-04-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

This is a story of how one eeeeensy weeeeensy act continues to cause a bunch of unseen, but real, smiles.

It was the early 90's. A friend and his wife approached his car. And there was the meter maid writing a ticket.

He was, well... ticked off. He was ready to take on the meter maid with the regular diatribe: "It just clicked over! I was in getting change!!!" yada yada yada.

His wife said "Chill. Give me all your quarters". "What....?" said he. "Just give them to me...." she repeated.

She went to the meter maid, waited for the ticket to be finished, took it and said 'thank you'.

And then with approximately 20 quarters... she walked down the street plugging every meter that had expired.

She died a couple of years ago. A favorite phrase was 'Take the straw off the camel's back'... which meant 'let it go'. Don't keep piling it on in a disagreement. Let them go away with pride.

My friend says people around the world are now plugging expired meters... having being so entertained by the story.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines - saved. People approaching their car... and, happily, no ticket! 'How did that happen?'

And the 'plugger' walking away knowing they created some happiness... for two bits.

Have you got a story about Legacy? Please send it to me at mystory@legacysmile.com ... or 'comment' below.

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CATHY'S CLIMB

2008-04-05T19:39:00.001-07:00

I climbed this mountain two summers ago. It was…. um, very tough. Technical, heart pounding, muscle stretching, stamina testing.

I left home for the mountain a day after my good friend Ken's wife died from breast cancer. Cathy's Legacy was a zillion friends, a beautiful, bright daughter, a loving extended family, a million successful business and personal accomplishments, scholarships in her name... and a husband who loved her.

A few days later we began the climb. My hope was to get to the summit the day of Cathy's burial. We jumped and roped across these crevasses. Exhilarating… and exhausting. I was motivated because I was carrying a crucifix to put on the summit for Cathy.

On the fourth day of climbing, it would be fourteen hours to the summit and six hours back down again. I felt not 55, but 105.

I thought about what Cathy had accomplished in her life, and the love my friend had for her. To recognize her Legacy... a little physical hardship was no big deal.

About 400 feet from the Summit we had to throw one foot out over a crevasse into a rope sling to get started, then climb our way up an almost vertical snow wall. Standing there I nearly vomited. I was ‘this far’ from giving the crucifix to one of the others, asking them to place it.

Then I thought of waiting there for them as they climbed to the summit, planted my crucifix for Cathy… then came down to tell me they’d done my job. I remember the moment: shaking, sweating like a prize fighter…. and ready to ‘hurl’ on the virgin snow, I threw my foot across the big, deep blue crevasse into the anchored rope sling, and started the climb. Crampon dig, ice axe… crampon…. ice axe…

I got to the top and planted Cathy’s crucifix. Nobody saw me cry when I wedged it into the rocks. We then spent six hours climbing back down to high camp. Totally exhausted, I fell asleep, smiling.

Cathy's Legacy will live on. And this climb taught me something, again. If I want a Legacy that will make me smile, I need to commit, put my foot forward… and start climbing. Moving up, slowly, towards something I'm proud of is better than watching others coming down from their summits.

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SO, WHAT'S YOUR LEGACY?

2008-04-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow and were asked, “What will your Legacy be?”, would you have an answer? Would you smile knowing your time here will continue to benefit other’s lives?

What differentiates humans from other species is our ‘transcendent dimension’, our need for meaning and fulfillment. We want to know our time on earth served a purpose.

What’s a Legacy? I define Legacy as something you enjoy creating ‘now’ that will continue to benefit the lives of others when you’re ‘gone’.

Your Legacy is your footprint in the sand. Your Legacy proves you were here. It leaves a mark, large or small. And I believe there’s joy and energy in creating them, now.

Bill Clinton said (in one of his $300,000 after-dinner chats): "The creation and maintaining of one’s own Legacy should consume your every waking hour.”

The idea of ‘Legacy’ for me began when my Father was asked to speak about his heroic, medalled, story-rich experience of World War II in front of his grand-daughter’s grade 5 class. He wasn’t a storyteller… so I helped him structure about fifty stories, every one a movie.

Dad (who passed away at 95 yrs. in April, 2010) then wrote each one of them, by hand. I typed them into the computer; we reviewed and re-wrote, and handed them to my sister, a publisher. We launched his book at a military museum, and that book will now be passed on from generation to generation. I know they’ll say “That’s my great, great, great grandfather’s book!”

If you think ‘Legacy’ is just about leaving money, it ain't so. That’s part of Legacy, but not all of it.

Your Legacy can be anything you want it to be, large or small. I think there are three broad categories of Legacy:

1. MONEY. Are you using tax-efficient, planned giving to change lives, and are you enjoying the effect now? Have you structured your estate to continue to enhance lives when you’re gone? One of your legacies could be a life insurance policy, on you, with the beneficiary being an organization you love. And you tell them how you’d like the funds used when you’re gone. Or that stock certificate or piece of art that’s appreciated 1000% since you bought it. You donate it to a charity and receive a tax deduction for the full amount, with no capital gains. The charity then sells it and uses the funds to achieve your common goals. There are many ways to use your money for Legacy. The key is: creative legacy planning so you can see, and enjoy, the results.

2. STORIES. How about a written, audio or video history of Dad, Mom or anyone else in the family that informs and entertains generations to come? It could be as simple as going through the old pictures, and noting who’s in them so all will know generations from now. Or pinning an audio microphone on grandma and just talking about her life. She’ll love it. Perhaps an ‘ethical will’ telling of your values that your children will read (and cry over), then later read by ancestors who are joyful at getting to know the hopes and dreams and accomplishments of ‘great, great grandpa’.

3. STUFF. This is the biggest category because anything can be a Legacy if it continues to benefit others when you’re gone: flowering bushes planted up a country road; a hospital wing; a charity you began; a park you helped build; an environment you created; skills you taught that continue to be passed on.

Creating a Legacy, large or small, while young and healthy, adds energy, joy and focus to any life. And when each of us ‘goes’, there’ll be a proud smile on our face as we know we’re leaving a mark; ‘I will affect lives for years to come’.

We're collecting stories of Legacy and will be publishing them in a new book. The book will be 'Guide' in the three areas above... but will also contain hundreds of Legacy stories that will act as catalysts for every person to dream of what their Legacy could be, and then create it. This means the story of one of your Legacies (yes, you can have many!) will stir another person to create theirs.

So, we’d like your story of a Legacy you've seen created, or a Legacy you're working on.

Please email your 400-word Legacy story to stories@yourlegacysmile.com. We will contact you for your permission to use your story in the book.

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2008-04-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Call for Canadian Legacy stories
New book to be simple how-to of Philanthropy

VANCOUVER, B.C., October 18, 2011 A request for Canadian’s Legacy stories has been announced due to the overwhelming response to a Vancouver man’s story in October’s Reader’s Digest. Selected stories will appear in a new book, which will contain a ‘Guide’ to Legacy building, including philanthropy, along with hundreds of the collected stories.

“If you knew you were going to die tomorrow and were asked, what will your Legacy be, would you have an answer?” said Robb Lucy, the book’s author. “I believe the best Legacy is something you create and enjoy now, at any age, knowing it will continue to benefit others’ lives when you’re ‘gone’. These are the stories we’re collecting” he said.

After Lucy’s story appeared in the Reader’s Digest, readers began sending in their own stories. These and other selected stories will appear in a book, which will be part ‘how-to’ and part Legacy stories.

Lucy is asking for stories in three broad categories of Legacy:

1. Money. Are you using tax-efficient, planned-giving philanthropy tools to help a charity or your favourite cause change lives? Have you structured your estate to enhance lives now, and when you’re gone? Perhaps you’ve received a tax receipt for you gift of cash, real estate, securities or art… and your favourite cause is changing lives because of your gift? The book will detail a variety of financial tools to accomplish a person’s philanthropic goals.

2. Stories. How about a written, audio or video history of Dad, Mom or anyone else in the family that informs and entertains generations to come? Perhaps your ‘ethical will’ telling of your values that family will read in a hundred years? Is your Legacy ensuring that these stories live… and are understood generations from now? As a former journalist, Lucy will detail the process of collecting stories in all media: print, audio and video.

3. Stuff. This is the biggest category says Lucy because anything can be a Legacy if it benefits others now and when you’re gone: flowering bushes planted up a country road; a hospital wing; a charity you began; a park you helped build; an environment you created; skills you taught that continue to be passed on.

“Your Legacy is your footprint in the sand” says Lucy. “Your Legacy proves you were here. It leaves a mark, large or small.”

Lucy says most people think Legacy is just leaving money behind when they die. “I want to change that idea of Philanthropy in a broad audience. Creating a Legacy while young and healthy adds energy, joy and focus to any life” he says. “And when each of us ‘goes’, there’ll be a proud smile on our face, knowing we will continue to positively enhance lives when we’re gone.”

Lucy asks Canadians to send their 300 word Legacy stories to stories@yourlegacysmile.com. Writers will be contacted if the story is selected for the book.

For sample Legacy stories and biography of Robb Lucy, go to http://legacysmile.blogspot.com/

The original Reader's Digest request for Legacy stories can be found here.

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