Leaving Your Legacy

I was recently part of an eight-week support group. We got together every Tuesday, we were given a prompt and with that prompt chose a picture to go with it and talk about during the group session.

One of the prompts was about leaving your mark on this world after you leave it or what do you want your legacy to be? I had a hard time coming up with a picture for this, but I have a few things that I want to be remembered for. This can be a hard topic to discuss but also very enriching as it makes you think about the big picture.

My family is my everything

I talk a lot about my nieces and nephews because they are my kids without actually having kids. They spend time with me on the weekends and I love to spoil them within my means. I want them to remember the good times that we have on these weekend slumber parties. I have been able to spend the most time with my sister's oldest son and a little bit with her second son and her first daughter. I have taken her oldest with us a few times to birthday parties, the zoo, and camping with my husband's family and he has enjoyed that. He loves hanging out with my husband's great-nephew. I have not had a lot of bonding time with my nephews in Texas but I love the time that I have had when we visit or they visit us.

Leaving nature cleaner than we found it

When we go camping or to the park basically anywhere in nature I have always left the area cleaner than when we found it. We learned this in girl scouts and it has stuck years later. I respect nature and want to make sure that I leave my mark by keeping it clean. We visited a local pond so that my husband could play with his RC boat and while he was doing that I picked up the trash. It was an easy task while I waited. I never understood why my mom left bags in my car until that day, thanks, mom!

Writing my experiences for others to read

After I was diagnosed and had gone through too many experiences, I decided that I wanted to write about it and I kind of do here for LungCancer.net but I also desired to write a book. I would love to give the perspective to those young adults being told that they have lung cancer what to expect. I feel like I was quite young when I was diagnosed and after seven years have come out with some unique experiences. This is still a project in the making and who knows if it will ever come to fruition.

Along with these things mentioned, I also want to be known as a giver. I tip more than expected when I can, I participate in food/coat drives, and I pay for the person behind me at Dunkin a few times a year.

What is the legacy that you want to leave behind for your loved ones?