He was a .....

One of my favorite authors is Brad Meltzer.  He sent me a link to a talk he gave in Florida entitled "How to Write Your Own Obituary."  I want to be sure I remember some of his key points which are:
"He was a" was the final line of his obituary, written, but not finished by a friend of his.  This final line caused him to think about what he was now as well as how he would like to be remembered.  To answer the latter, we must first identify who will remember you.  He stated that the things we do for other people will be what people will remember us for.

There are four kinds of legacies we will leave:
    1.  A personal legacy - meaning what we do for friends to inspire them.  Sometimes we do not know what we have done, but God knows what we leave behind.  He talked about a teacher who was the first to tell him that he could write.
    2.  A family legacy - most of what we do for family members will not be in any obituary, but the love we show for each other will be priceless.
    3.  A community legacy - He spoke of a billboard he saw that read "who will remember your name?"  That is a good question for each one of us to answer.  What have you done to impact your community?  He told of a owner of a restaurant who hired black employees when no one else in the area would.  When race riots broke out in the area, no one touched his establishment because of what he had done.
    4.  A stranger legacy - Even if you don't know someone personally, we can do something to help where needed.  He told of how the Make a Wish foundation came to be - all because of one act of kindness, by one individual, to someone he did not know.

So, he addressed how to write your own obituary.  We will all have one (good or bad).  His conclusion is that you cannot write your own, you can only live a life formulated around what you want to be forever.  If fact his question to us all was "what do you want to be when you grow up - more importantly, what do you want to be forever?"  He said that it is all within our power - that our words are our power!

Brad said that the power of thank you can elevate us beyond what ordinary people can do.  We can do something beyond our ordinary selves by being kind, even to one person.  He said that ordinary people change the world, find the people who have inspired you and say thank you, then be kind to those around you, even the ones who do not know.

This little Jewish boy, hit Mormon doctrine right on the head.  Become what you want to be eternally and your obituary be read by the angels.