We must be keepers of our legacy

‘A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children.’

PROVERBS 13:22 (KJV)

Alegacy can be handed down from the past by tradition, such as practices and sayings or words of wisdom. It can also be that ‘secret ingredient’ in a family recipe, or that jewellery item or artefact that has been in the family for decades. Legacy is important.

I swiftly started my memoir before I went under the knife and spent a lot of time thinking about what I had or hadn’t accomplished. What would people say about me once I had gone? What had I left behind that had meaning and purpose? Was my living in vain? At the time, I had been a senior leader for over 15 years in a secondary school and no one forgets a great teacher, so I guess I was alright then. But what about my children? Had I left behind a legacy for them to pass onto their children? And their children’s children?

I once read that when an ancestor dies, a library burns down because as a community we are amazing at telling stories orally, but not so great when it comes to writing them down. We need to be keepers of our legacy if we are to preserve our history.

RECORDINGS:

• Audio: If you are not a keen writer, you can record memories or interviews. Having a voice to go with an image is priceless.

• Video: Video recordings of key events — birthdays, weddings or simply videos of personal interviews, memories, and stories.

During the pandemic, I led an online intergenerational project, where I worked alongside 27 children to interview a grandparent. Three days after a young girl interviewed her nonagenarian great-gran, she died. When I read the young girl’s research, I discovered that her great-gran’s father had cut the wood that had built the first New Testament Church of God in Jamaica, and that her daughter was a singer in the 1970s’ Number 1 pop group, Boney M!

I remember the first Christmas after my grandfather died. He was the family chef and would conjure up delicious seasonal delights: tomatoes stuffed with spicy prawns; honeyroasted gammon, dressed with pineapple and cloves; and home-made ice cream that made Häagen-Dazs taste like the Tesco Value brand.

In the kitchen devoid of Gramps, the children all looked at each other with shame. No one had ever spent time with Gramps when he was cooking or had written down how to make his mouth-watering meals. It was at that point when we realised that all his delectable recipes had been buried with him.

It took a heart attack and the subsequent bypass surgery to get me seriously thinking about my own legacy — something I hadn’t really thought about before. When you hover closely to the jaws of death, it’s something that becomes a reality for many of us.

Joshua 4:21-22 (KJV) confirms, ‘And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.’

Below are some practical ways to keep and retain one’s legacy.

MEMORABILIA:

• Jewellery, personal and sentimental items that are linked to a person, a story or event. Old passports, work ID, wedding invitations, achievement certificates, graduation booklets, funeral brochures, books, poems, or songs written by family members or friends.

DONATIONS:

• Charitable donation: Money given to a charity, a cause or a person highlights the importance of this.

• Savings account: Putting away small sums of money to gift to a family member or friend. My gran saved £5 a week in a bank account for her grandchildren. When she died, one had over £1,000 in her account.

WRITINGS:

• Journal: Keeping a journal of your thoughts, feelings or events can be a priceless keepsake for future generations.

• Letters and cards. Keeping these — especially ones that are handwritten, can give a valued insight into a person.

PICTURES:

• Photographs from the cradle to the grave, with the names of those in the picture, a date, and the event.

• Artwork: hand-drawn or purchased can also give an insight into a person.

• Scrap book: with notes, ideas, pictures, and sentimental memorabilia.

Please note: Writing, photographs and recordings can be uploaded onto social media or onto a hard drive, computer drive or in the cloud, so they are preserved and not destroyed or lost.

Juliet Coley is former presenter of C4 and ITV1’s gospel music programme, People Get Ready. She is also an award-winning educator, author and founder of Young LIT Stars, which publishes books written by Black children aged 6 to 15. Visit www.younglitstars.com