How Do You Want to be Remembered?

Perhaps it is because I've lost so many loved ones recently, but I have been thinking about the value of life.
Recently I asked some companions at dinner how they wanted to be remembered. I notice reporters always ask older celebrities that question which means I know you won't be around much longer so what do you want me to say about you when you are gone?

One of my friends said he wanted to be remembered as a good person who always tried to do the right thing.
I am sure he will be remembered that way. He is generous and caring. My other companion said she didn't really care because she would be gone and it wouldn't matter to her.

Have you put much thought to that question? I think all of us who are writers hope that the written word will keep us around a long time. I think it is interesting that the author of the original Sherlock Holmes books seems to be immortal. Louisa Mae Alcott will be remembered for a long, long time I hope. Though few young people of today have a clue about who she was. Perhaps if Hollywood continues to make Little Women movies every decade or two, she will be remembered.
We have immortalized poets like Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Emily Dickinson and others, but there are just a few poems by each that are remembered.

Having laid to rest my husband of many years, I was forced to think of how he would want to be remembered. He never told me. I figured his love for music, his witty personality, and his extroverted personality should be the theme of his memorial services. Those are the traits most of his loved ones remember.

I was asked if I knew how I want to be remembered.That is an easy question for me now.
I want to be remembered for making a difference in lives of others, for helping someone accomplish her dreams, for being a supportive spirit in a person's success. 

As an elementary school teacher, I had hopes that I could make school a happier place for my students than it had been for me. Sadly, a teacher of children that young seldom hears of the triumphs of her students in later years. But now, as a teacher and a mentor for other writers, I can see the outcome of my work. Teaching and working with adult writers is a joy to me. Having my own business and being self-employed is a joy, also.

When I am told that I work too much, I laugh, because I don't do anything I don't want to do. My work is my enjoyment. Learning new ways to teach and be creative  are pieces of my work, and that is fun to me.

How do you want to be remembered? Have you given this any thought? 
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