Perhaps though, we are aware at some level that this is a good thing. It doesn't mean you have to be morbidly anticipating or even planning your own death, look at it as a day to start planning ahead! Seriously though, it's a day to decide which of your legacies you want set in stone. And if you haven't taken the time to think about what legacy you want to leave behind, you can work at it in reverse order. Think about what you want said on your stone, then start working towards it.
The most personal experience I've had with an epitaph was with my own parents' gravestones. The names of all six of their children are on the back of their shared gravestone, which at first I thought was a little weird - I mean after all, I'm not buried there, but there's my name on a headstone.
On reflection, I can see how pretty dang awesome that is. To my parents, their children are their legacy. Their capstone, hugest and greatest accomplishment, shining star(s). I like that quite a bit.
It means some additional pressure on me, though. If I'm to be someone else's legacy, am I doing all I can? Am I living up to my potential?
I will likely not have children of my own to claim as a legacy. In fact, the sense, the very finite-ness of my own mortality struck me at my parents' funerals. I looked around at their grandchildren - my siblings' children, and was grateful for traditions passed down through generations, and for the legacy that my good, hard-working parents had left behind - not just for the six of us, but for their 26 grandchildren and an ever-increasing amount of great-grandchildren. And it hit me - it's just me. I don't have children to pass things down to, but that doesn't mean I can't leave a piece of me behind.
I just need to make sure it's something good. Something worthwhile.
I don't mean for this post to be depressing; merely thought-provoking.
(It was either this or a post about running. Those are coming, though.)
Very thought-provoking. Being your parents' legacy. Wow. Thanks for sharing!
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