Friday, July 1, 2011

The Right to Heritage...Family Legacy

On a more personal note...

Family legacy is an energy that connects family generations.

What life do you want to create to leave, which biography do you want as a memory for your family descendents? What tangible documents--certificates, letters, photos, videos, and emails--will you decide to keep to pass on? Which objects, the memorabilia, will you select to be a part of their future? What about the non-tangibles--the things you can't place in a box--which beliefs, values, emotions, and memories do you want to pass on? Which of these things will stand the test of time and remain part of family legacy? Shouldn't you empower yourself to take decisive accountability for this? Or will your only conscious family legacy be about money:  wills with land, houses, and bank accounts? What do you and your family hold dear that you want to pass on? How does your family's legacy shape the future?
I declare the Right to Family Legacy-- it's really more about the future than the past.

Family legacy necklace


31 comments:

Anonymous said...

The right to family legacy regarding non tangible items can be difficult to leave behind. These ideas, beliefs and values can change, and alter because of different perspectives, changing times and misinterpretations. These things can easily fade over time, whereas tangible items unless destroyed will remain. I also feel that the past is the platform for the future. I declare the right to family legacy.
PoPcOrN

Anonymous said...

Our ancestors are composed more than just vital records and tangible items; they are composed of great stories - great loves, great losses, great triumphs, and great tragedies. More than a tangible perspective - I, too, believe it is the ENERGY (through time and space) that we leave behind, which will forever connect us through generations, because the truth is - tangible items are just that, tangible.

Tangible items, are physical items, which can and will get lost through the hands of many generations through time, whether it be a relative physically losing an artifact, per se, or a relative taking a decision to sell a family heirloom or property, as an example.

A perfect example, of why "The Right to Culture" and "The Right to History", are so imperative to conserve, so that we may keep the tangible and non-tangible gifts left behind by our ancestors as intended, whether small or large, a significant and priceless piece of the past.

However, on the non-tangible side, the legacy - the stories, is one that can never get lost, and that is what I hope to leave behind for my future generations, because it is perhaps, the wealthiest inheritance of all gifts, and one day - they will want to know about us, too. ~ F.G.

Anonymous said...

First of all, I want to agree with "popcprn" when they mention "the past is the platform for the future." The mistakes of today help us learn for tomorrow. I really want my family to pass on the lessons learned over time. Money, land, and other tangible assets may also be passed down, but most importantly I want my family to pass down the great memories and stories that have helped us become who we are today. The beliefs and values will mean a lot more than just a few dollars.
ACA

Anonymous said...

A legacy can be something handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor. It is important to keep personal property, writings, or even a family business that identifies a family from one generation to the other. I think that everyone should have the right to record and preserve their family legacy for future generations. By: L.J.B.R.

Anonymous said...

I have never personally considered what I would leave as a legacy, mostly due to the fact that there were none for me to discover. My knowledge of my families goes back to my great grandparents. I wish I could know much more about where my families came from, what they did, and what struggles, if any, they had met. Family legacy is important to a child growing up. It shows that they were once part of something important. It means something.
L.A.R.

Anonymous said...

Every person has a right to their own family legacy. It is not so much about the tangibles left behind, since these can easily be lost in a fire, stolen by thieves or simply lost throughout the years. It is more about the memories made as a family, a friend, a lover, a sister or a brother that are left behind and passed on from one generation to the next.
-Ana DM

MSM15 said...

In my opinion, the beliefs, values, and memories are more important to leave to our future families than material things. I want my descendents be more worry about non- tangible things because it is the most valuable things that a family generation could preserve. Also, if they pay more attention to the money, there will be separation and discontent among them.
-MSM15

Anonymous said...

Every person has the right to try and leave something he would like to be remembered for. Money will only go so far in life towards happiness, but great moral lessons stick with a family for generations.
J.M.

Anonymous said...

The most valuable family legacy passed on in my family is integrity, and beign a person that lives by his word. Stories of the past are just that, stories. My father has spent his life teaching me the same principles passed down to him by his father and it will be the same principles i will pass down to my son or daughter because it can apply to either. Word is bond so live by it.

Carlos

Anonymous said...

Family legacy is about keeping traditions and ideals of the past alive in the present. However, preserving certain ideals may become a difficult task in this society. This is simply because some beliefs have become outdated. For example, some families still have the ideal that a women's place is in the home. One must choose wisely what is passed on each generation.
J.F.

Anonymous said...

Family legacy is different to all. Yes, the bank accounts, property, and that million dollar necklace is great. However, its the story behind it. How did your great, great, grandfather strike gold and set the whole family for generations to come? The family farm that has been family owned and passed down since the 1800's. We are all just interested in a good story, and if its our story even better.

Monica C.

Anonymous said...

I think that non-tangible things stay with you longer because they're actual possessions. I still own a ring my father gave when I was 10, and it is still one of my dearest possessions. Family legacy can be defined in so many ways, but like the person on top said what is more important is the story behind the non-tangibles things then the items themselves.

Shani A.

Anonymous said...

I also agree that the non-tangible things are more valuable. You can lose a very expensive ring or spend the millions of dollars that you have but what you will never lose are the values and beliefs that were instilled in you as a child.

P.Picone

Anonymous said...

I agree with this right and believe famimly legacy is very important. No matter how different we are, everyone has a legacy they want to leave. I think that is probably one of the things that gives life meaning. To now that even after you are dead your business, your beliefs, your values and many other things will still live. MV

Anonymous said...

Many believe that tangible items are the way to represent their legacy. Family heirlooms are usually what come to mind. Why burden our children with things we were not strong enough to let go of. This to me is not necessary. Knowledge and traditions are an amazing way to influence future generations. Teaching a better way of life will lead to a more prosperous future.

Sheeda M.

Anonymous said...

I agree to family legacy. I also believe in a family legacy left intangible such as preserved memories. Personally my great grandparents left heirlooms but what I know about them and my family history was information that was simply shared with me as a child. -D.E.C.

Anonymous said...

I think family legacy also defines who we are and the way we act, are values and are morals. We should pass on our good and bad experiences so our generations can learn and not make the same mistakes. Tangible and non-tangible family legacy are very important because both defines the future of our generations. (LCL)

Anonymous said...

The privilege to heritage is a personal right. People decide what to do with their valuables after they die. They could inherit to family, or to charity, or even to a cause that may be absurd to others. A.L.

Anonymous said...

Last Christmas, I found a box in my great-aunt's attic containing a number of personal documents about our family. The box contained the war diary of my ancestor who fought in the civil war. i hope to pass that diary down to my children to show them our family legacy of bravery and perseverance.
-A.B.

Anonymous said...

Many ideas and items should always be passed down as a family legacy, it gives people a reason to live give us a reason to believe. It distinguishes those with family legacy's away from others and makes them unique to the world. A family legacy can sometimes be looked at as a simple routine or item it can be looked at as a story or memory, it creates history, respect, love, and so much more. -J.J.V.

Anonymous said...

I don't want to leave any tangible memories of me when I pass on as I believe material items aren't nearly as important as your own legacy is. I hope that my legacy will be passed down as a great mother and determined student. I want to pass down my ability to stay positive in all situations and my happiness. Etel

A.N.A said...

I believe family legacy is an important and beautiful thing that has the ability to teach lessons and to enforce certain thoughts or ideas. Every important decision we face has the consequence of leaving behind a negative or positive legacy. How do you want to be remembered?

One of my favorite stories about my great-grandfather is that every night he sat at the dinner table with his suit jacket on, promptly at six o'clock pm. This moved me because it shows that he respected his wife's efforts and valued time with his family so much so that he was consistent in taking time away in his day to look presentable and be with his family. I want to be remembered as a man who is also dedicated to family time.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the right to family legacy. When I have children, chances are a lot of my elderly relatives will have passed on. I don't want my children to remember them by a photograph alone. I want them remembered for their kind hearts by the stories I tell them and the letters they have left behind, so they know the kinds of people that have left an imprint in their family and it's history. SJB

Anonymous said...

I agree with this right. A name in itself is a legacy, what you do with it, however is what determines what memories are left behind.
CR

Anonymous said...

The right to family legacy is one that should not be underestimated. For example, some women prefer to have children because they are not innately maternal, care more of their physical presence such as looking good, they just are not fertile, or they focus more on personal achievements. However, I agree that the right to family legacy is about the future because a name is carried on forever as well as what you do in that name. It is similar to what you do while wearing a religious cross. Material posessions can last forever but the meaning they leave behind will be for a lifetime. Artists and musicians make more money when they are dead.

-G.C

D.Zabala said...

The legacy that I’m going to leave my family is going to be one of integrity. I want my family just as I did to learn from our family legacy and create their own. To embrace our determination, show our love, and enjoy life.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the right to family legacy. I want to leave pictures behind as a part of a memory because a picture can say a thousand things; I want to pass on the family legacy.
Chelsea M.

Anonymous said...

The right to family legacy protects our right to pass on what we learn and the things we most value about our families. To me, what is more important are the morals and values I learned from each member of my family, that unlike all the material things they can ever give me, this can never get lost or be broken . Nobody can ever take that from me, it is something inbred in me that I will hold dearly forever. D.C.R

Anonymous said...

What are we planning to teach our children in order for them to be better than we are? (Definitely intangible treasures; if we are planning to leave them material things we are on the wrong track already because we do not know what can happen until then). How are we planning to pass down our legacy? Our legacy, know and understand how our ancestors were or at least our grandparents is fundamental to create an identity (not a personality) and to create a point of reference to hold on to the positive side of them, forget about the bad, and improve ourselves. There is something my family and I do every day, of course sometimes there are exceptions, but we have lunch like around 3 or 4pm all together sitting at the table. Nothing related to religion or anything it is just a family tradition. What I see as normal is something relevant to most of my friends. That is one of the things I would like to pass on because in that moment when we are enjoying lunch each of the members of the family enjoy each other and share some funny story about their day, it helps to keep the family connection.
MVHT

Anonymous said...

We all have a right to family legacy, although a lot of us don’t exercise it. Like two years ago, I was pondering of what legacy I was going to leave to my children? And then realize that the best things that I can leave are the intangible things; show them to love, to respect, and to have lives that honor God, above anything else. I want to leave a legacy, how would they remember me? O.V.

Anonymous said...

The right to family legacy shows our future what our past was all about. For some this will help build the person they want to be with modivation of our ancestors. -ABL