Today in church we honored Remembrance of Saints Day by remembered those members who passed away in the last year’s timeframe. Pastor Katie encouraged us to remember all our loved ones no longer with us—remember their love, their stories, their impact on our lives, what they meant to us. That is their legacy. She said to remember the ones you loved by being aware of them in your daily life. Remember them as you do things they liked to do, like baking cookies or going to the ball game. I would add to remember them in the things they loved, whether stuffed pandas or flowers or a certain kind of candy. You have so many “shimmering images” of them to treasure.

November 2 is also Dia de los Muertos. I love the happy celebration of remembering loved ones passed on, whether people or pets. Celebrate them, remember their love, enjoy those memories!

Our church sermon today fit perfectly with why I encourage lifewriting. If you have not written the stories of your older family members, start this month. November is National Novel Writing Month but you can adapt to memoir or life writing. Thanksgiving is a great time to gather and ask for stories. Your loved ones’ stories are their legacy, their gift to you to carry in your heart. If some have already passed on, you can still write the stories you remember, and ask other family members for their memories.

“The love we shared here on Earth is the connective tissue that unites us eternally with everyone who loved us.” [and in some inexplicable way we are all—every single one of us—held together in the heart of God.] – Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber