Who Will Discover the Traces of Your Life?

Your legacy could be hiding in the most unlikely place

May 31, 2022

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three happy girls in field of sunflowers — Photo by Antonino Visalli on Unsplash

Last weekend, I had an itch.

Unpleasant at best, it was the kind that forced me to get off my butt and do something constructive. And this time, I headed for the kitchen cabinets.

For the last nine years, those overloaded storage spaces have protected all my cherished kitchenware. Why are my cabinets loaded to the brim? Well, I love to cook. I like to try out new recipes, variations of old favorites, and experiment with the untested and unexplored.

And to do that, I need lots of different dishes, pots, and baking pans. In other words, a huge assortment of I-don’t-know-what-I-need-but-I’m-sure-I-have-it-somewhere cooking essentials.

But back to that irritating itch. I’m pretty sure it was my subconscious reminding me of how frustrated I’d get when looking for just the right container or baking dish and not being able to find what I needed when I needed it.

The time had come to clean out, clear out, and figure out what was important to keep - and what I could live without.

I started by setting up a line of boxes to simplify the vetting process.

As I sorted through various items, the memories started pouring in - where I’d purchased them, which ones were gifts, and those treasured pieces I couldn’t bear to part with under any circumstances.

Working with what I considered a reasonable system, a thought occurred to me: Who would be taking on the task of going through my cabinets when I died?

More important, what would they think as they picked and poked and boxed up the remains of my culinary life? Would they wonder why I kept the goofy set of plastic cups with the purple flowers and bent handles? Would they recognize and remember the Christmas plate they gave me or the beautiful set of carving knives and cutting boards from my brother?

Would they wonder if I thought about them – how their influence touched and enhanced my life - every time I used those precious pieces of cookware?

I’m hoping the answer is yes. But there’s a chance the people I care about the most may not know how much their gifts meant to me every single day. Because I may not have told them. And that omission lies within me.

So it’s time to set things right. As soon as my kitchen is re-organized and my itch has subsided, I have a few long-overdue phone calls to make.

Who will discover the traces of your life?

Maybe this is a good time to reach out and tell the people you love how you feel about them. Send a note, write a letter, or pick up the phone.

Do it now and keep the connection alive — while you can.

In health & happiness,

Jill Reid

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Jill Reid is the author of Real Life, Discover Your Personal Truth, Life in Small Doses, and Please God, Make Me A Writer. Her books, videos, and newsletter explore life, relationships, self-improvement, health, and personal success strategies for working through the challenges of everyday life.