I was listening to an interview the other day with a Doctor who helps care for people who have cancer. Two of the things she spoke about were fears and peace before death, and what causes those feelings in an individual. One thing which struck me was a story of a mum whose son died from cancer, and the mum said her most painful thing was the notion that someone would forget him.

This made me consider whether I wanted to be remembered after I died. It was interesting because I thought – how long do I want to be remembered for?… and realistically, there are not many people who are remembered for more than a couple of generations anyway.

The remembering may go on for a few years whilst friends and family survive, and in a few more years in family albums, and for those very few who have had a tremendous impact upon humanity – whether it be good or bad; records in history books, archived records, monuments or structures – which all end up dissolving in one way or another anyway.

There is the notion that one will ‘live on’ for while ever we are remembered. So that would imply that some ‘live on’ more than others and realistically in the grand scheme of things that is not very long – so why is being remembered important?

I’m not so sure how much ‘remembering’ I want to be had of me, and whether it is something I consider that I want after I have died. I think my peace would come before I died from knowing that I had made some difference in others’ lives along my way. I hope that through living my life the way I want to, I have somehow enriched others’ lives and through both my personal interaction and results of my experience and contributions, have provided an opportunity for others to connect more intimately with who they are themselves.