Question of the Week: What message would you leave for those who come after you?

+14 votes
1.3k views

Last week we asked you which ancestor you would go meet if you could time travel.  This week we want to know:

What message would you leave for those who come after you? 

PS: Reshare the question on Facebook and get your friends and family talking.

in The Tree House by Eowyn Walker G2G Astronaut (2.4m points)
edited by Eowyn Walker

"I told you I was sick!" wink

Eat, drink and be merry, but also marry and have children!
Oh, also, "Please don't name your children Alan, or Brenda, or Charles, or Debbie, or Edward, or common names like that. Instead, please use names  like Anastasia, or Beauregard, or Clara, or Durwood, or Edna, or something like that, so they're not going to have 4 other kids in their class with the same name, and so their great grandchildren can find them more easily in public records. And whatever you do, never marry a guy with a last name like Smith, Jones, Brown, or anything like that."
When people come after me, I disappear as quietly as possible.

Do you though? laugh

OK, sometimes I make some noise.  wink  If I leave a message, it's most likely "You'll never take me alive!"

I am getting tired of my documented lineage changed. Someone has added incorrect Hunnicutt information on my tree.  There were four John Hunnicutt's, circa 1800 in Pendleton District, SC. My John was the son of Randolph Hunnicutt, son of another John Hunnicutt. All of my information is documented and I want the incorrect information removed from my tree. No one should be allowed to change documented information to completely incorrect information. If I want my information changed, I will do it myself.

Please remove Moses, Jessie and earlier ones from my tree because I did not place these names there and they are wrong.

Beware of women's married names being used to add to a family  where they become as siblings instead of the marriage.
HUMAN LIFE is, or can be, a marathon.  Prepare yourself physically and mentally during your youth for the challenges of the future.  Learn critical thinking skills, science & math skills, history, geography, public speaking, and artistic appreciation - these skills increase your ability to grow in life.  Remember the Christian SERENITY PRAYER.  Mistakes are part of life - learn from them and do not repeat them.  Learn from other people's mistakes.  Drugs & alcohol impair you in the competition of life - don't use them.  Know that youth is filled with hormonal and impetuous desires - don't let those desires define your life.  Honor your parents - they probably made many sacrifices for your welfare.
In reply to the rant from person upset about changes to 'her' tree. (several above) Sources are the best way to show who belongs and who doesn't.  If no good sources, then write to the person who added the person to challenge them on the addition.  I have this problem in one of my early Virginia families...people keep adding in folks who don't belong, according to the records of the time, but I let it go, as it's not 'MY' tree, it's a shared genealogy and it will sort itself out over time, with collaboration!
Very good advice from anonymous Feb 2!  Also would add to try to preserve history as not only let's you know where families have come from but what they have gone through - honor your ancestors no matter what they did!

40 Answers

+18 votes
 
Best answer
"A large cache of gold coins are 180 steps down a mossy path. On your final step look toward the fir trees,  and when the sun is just right, you'll see a diamond in the sky. Walk in the direction of the diamond.  Just as it fades from view you'll hear windchimes. The coins are right below your feet but you won't need to dig."
by Bart Triesch G2G6 Pilot (268k points)
selected by Living Edgerton
Bart ... I’m loving your answer. I’ve “borrowed” it for my Memory Book. I hope that one day after I’m gone and someone reads this page in the book they’ll wonder what it means; is there treasure to be found, what could it really mean or was great-whatever Martha just weird. Thank you!

You're sure welcome Martha! Sometimes my imagination runs amok on Wikitree.

“Borrowed” pic to go on page!
I love this!! I may write it into my diary and really cause a wild goose chase in 100 years! :)
+17 votes
My first thought was to pass along a saying from my father which has been since passed down to my children and from their father to my grandchildren.  "Close the refrigerator door!  It's not a TV!"

But I will instead go with, "Don't worry.  Be Happy!"  What ever happens in your life, find any small glimmer that will make you smile and hang on to it and let the gloom fall away.
by Gurney Thompson G2G6 Pilot (443k points)
+20 votes
My note would read;

"There are two things in life that are important, where you came from and where you are going, do not get the two confused."
by Rodney Long G2G6 Pilot (849k points)
+18 votes
Without each of your Ancestors before you, you would not be who you are. Know the past, learn from it, remember it, pass it down.  Those who refuse the past are bound to repeat it, don't live ignorant or stupid. Live for Today, and Plan for Tomorrows. Bad things happen, find the lesson in it, and grow. And always remember, Look in the Mirror, Love yourself, as you would love others, & never give yourself up.  There are 3 things in life that are never replacable...Your Children, Your Life, and Your Sanity, Protect them, because each is a gift. One more thing...Look after and Look out for, those who are lost, and need help finding "a way".  I Love You.
by Arora Anonymous G2G6 Pilot (162k points)
Sanity is a luxury not afforded to Stilwell genealogists involved in a serious attempt to untangle the multi-knotted rope that describes the descendants of Nicholas Stillwell (Stillwell-18). If one part is unravelled, another part becomes more entangled.
+16 votes

Make me proud. smiley

by Deb Durham G2G Astronaut (1.1m points)
+16 votes
When times get tough, look to the past for inspiration. Your ancestors had it much tougher than you. They got through worse; so can you.
by Fiona McMichael G2G6 Pilot (208k points)
I already have something similar to this with my children: "grit your teeth and carry on, because that's what we do".
Melanie, my dad was an army officer who had left school at 14 and worked his way through the ranks. Towards the end of his service, he was presented with a hand carved pace stick with “Grit yer teeth and get on with it.” It was something he had obviously said a lot as he was even referred to as “Gritty”!

Fiona, I LOVE that!  Both that he said it AND that they honoured him with that gift.  How wonderful!  :)

I started saying it years decades ago when I was told I'd be in a wheelchair within x years (I'm still not).  And because I was a sole supporting parent with nobody else to do things, it was how I operated.  "Put your head down, grit your teeth .. .. "  Now my son repeats it back to me .. "because it's what we do".  :)

Small world....I could have been in a wheelchair within weeks. I had the operation and have had the decade long recovery. Still use that saying on the bad days.
+21 votes
The first hundred years are the hardest.
by Gaile Connolly G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
+21 votes
I left them encouraging messages on their profile pages. Hopefully someday in the years to come, they will see them. What a nice surprise it will be.
by Diane Gurske G2G6 (9.3k points)
+14 votes
Be true to your ancestors, yourself, and your progeny.  Remember us all in your prayers...
by David Hughey G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
+17 votes
write your familystory for those who come after you! keep pictures, documents to make it easy for those who wants to know ancesters of the family
by Mia Fournier G2G6 (9.0k points)
+14 votes
Put on your Big boy (girl) pants,and go for it!
by Sandra Vines G2G6 Pilot (132k points)
+15 votes
Keep their names alive folks and share the stories. This is your history.
by Karon Bell G2G2 (2.3k points)
+15 votes
Mine would be along the lines of: Life does not always pan out the way you think it will.  Sometimes the deck is really stacked against you. Sometimes we do not get to live our plan A or even plan B life but we can live contented, productive, even happy lives. It just takes adjusting, sometime radical change even, and the embracing of new a reality and goals but I assure you it can be done.
by Rose Boddy G2G6 Mach 1 (12.9k points)
+13 votes
Don't worry! Be Happy!
by Aline Barbeau G2G6 (9.5k points)
+15 votes
"You're going to live longer than you think. Take care of your body."

"If you have a dream, pursue it. It is so much more rewarding than watching someone else do things."
by Debi Hoag G2G6 Pilot (393k points)
+11 votes
Live a happy life.

And don't worry about things you have no control over.  When you worry, you only suffer twice.
by LJ Russell G2G6 Pilot (215k points)
+16 votes

Enjoy where you are, take pictures and save letters! And most importantly, don't throw away your diary!

PS Can't wait for social media to be a genealogical treasure trove. Kind of jealous of 22nd century genealogists, there will be so much to choose from if they have access to all their ancestors' various profiles, conversations, and selfies, ha!

by Sarah Kroh G2G6 Mach 3 (32.8k points)
+13 votes

"Deal with it!"  laugh

by L. Chavarria G2G6 (6.2k points)
+10 votes
It is both extremely unlikely that any of my children will have offspring, and it is even less likely that any of their offspring would care about a message I left them, and it is irrational to think that they would.
by J. Crook G2G6 Pilot (226k points)
I know about my grandfather's sister, and appreciate her actions and legacy. She never had children, but it is because she recorded family events and preserved them in her own bible that we have that history.  I now feel it is my duty,  as a fledgling genealogist/ family historian,  to document the history that I know of (citing proper sources! ;)  ), and share it with other family members,  close and distant. I have found that it is also a way to connect and re-connect, them.  A wonderful side benefit!!
+12 votes
I'm coming back to haunt you!!
by Bill Vincent G2G6 Pilot (172k points)
edited by Bill Vincent

Related questions

+32 votes
85 answers
+24 votes
98 answers
+22 votes
101 answers
+25 votes
84 answers

WikiTree  ~  About  ~  Help Help  ~  Search Person Search  ~  Surname:

disclaimer - terms - copyright

...