What is a legacy journal? How do I create one? How do you give a legacy journal? Is a legacy journal a good idea?
These are great questions. Keep reading for some answers!
Merriam-Webster defines a legacy as “a gift by will especially of money or other personal property,” or “something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past.” [1]
A Leatherpress journal meets both these definitions, as something personal and lasting that can be passed along and as something in which legacy is transmitted. A sense of that heritage and lasting beauty inspired the creation of our leather journals and notebooks. These journals are made to be filled with your own family’s legacy and the story and memories of your family life.
But what is a legacy journal? In short, it’s a written record of memories, advice and instruction, a life story and collected wisdom. How can I create a legacy journal? You can start this on your own, or give a journal and a list of questions to your parents or grandparents to tell their stories.
We come to know our grandparents when they are already “old,” so it’s difficult to imagine them at younger ages. But as we age ourselves, an appreciation of those years lived before by our parents and grandparents emerges. As do questions about their own experiences.
This is a great place to start making a list of questions you’d like your grandparents to write about in their legacy journal.
Of course, these questions can spur great in-person conversations, as well, but seeing the answers in your grandparent’s trademark handwriting preserves the memory on an additional level.
It may help to have some categories to begin a legacy writing project. Here are some brief suggestions to get your creative juices flowing, and some legacy journal questions in each of those categories. We’ve also compiled these questions into a template that you can download for easy reference.
Younger Years, Oldest Memories
Education
Life Story
Collected Wisdom
Send Your Love
Print out these questions and tuck them into the back pocket of one of our Inspire Notebooks as a reference, or write them into the Table of Contents on a Heritage Journal.
Either way, these questions can become the door to a flood of memories and stories. Who knew your Grandpa William had been the state golf champion in high school? Or that your 5- year-old mother had released the emergency brake on her father’s milk delivery truck while it was parked on a hill?
But the beauty lies both in the writing and the reading. The written legacy book becomes a gift given back to future generations. Family ties assume connection, but often elder generations seem too distant to be relatable.
Legacy writing exposes deeper connections over generations. Did you know Grandma Kate had always wanted to get her Master’s degree, but was too busy with children? That’s why she has so many questions for her grandchildren about their college courses. She also tends to hover a bit over her grown daughter, just like you do with your youngest. Is that because they were both born 6 weeks prematurely?
Most treasured will be the life wisdom written into these legacy journals. What gems will we find to encourage our own living?
Get started on your own legacy journal so your grandkids don’t have to get you one! Shop our Leatherpress journals today.
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