http://marciwhitfordlegacymessage.blogspot.com/
Published Book 2004:
I originally taught classes on how to scrapbook your legacy messages, but my focus will be more on the messages I try to pass on to my own children.
I am passionate about this message because I have grieved over not having anything left to me from my own mother who passed away when she was only 32 years old. I was only 8 so I do not remember a whole lot about her. I would give anything to have hand written journals or messages from her. I do however have newspaper clippings written about her because even though she was young and ill with cancer, she thought of other people more than herself. She lived to help others during a time when she could hardly function, and did not have much herself. She use to deliver "old" food that stores would throw out to people who needed it. This was during a time when families were struggling from the long Caterpillar lay offs in the 1980's. Anyway, since I did not have her stories and experiences to learn from during childhood and young adult years, it has motivated me to create legacy messages of my own for my children. We do not have to be dead for our children to learn from our stories and lives, and there will come a day when they want to hear what we have to say and how we handled things in our own lives. For when they are ready to read or hear them, I will write them and put them away. And, they will learn so much from us just from how we choose to live our daily lives.
I have met so many ladies over the years that have truly enjoyed learning the simple ways to create legacy albums and remember that they have important stories to tell their own children and families. We all need to be reminded that we are important and that even if our children are not old enough to receive our messages now, they will someday want to know all about us. I was too young to even think about what I would want to know about my mother or even realize she was going to die, it would have been nice to have someone think about creating something or write her stories down for her, knowing that someday I would want to know them.
I have also come into contact with people that have needed to get these legacy messages done because unfortunately they did not have much time left on this earth, or knew someone that didn't. I cannot even tell you how inspired I have been from all of these stories and women. They are what allows me to know that the legacy message I have been given is important.
