My niece sleeps with my brothers old Green Bay Packers jersey. Truth be told, my brother didn't own much when it came to valuable possessions. When we finally received his belongings, you could fit pretty much everything he owned into the trunk of a car. He left his writings, pictures, a few guitars and not a whole lot of anything else. He did leave a lot of memories and funny stories that outweigh his lack of worldly possessions.
If you could, it would be nice to leave others something to hang onto. Leave things that would only hold value to those who truly loved you. If you have ever lost someone, you would know that possessions that hold some sort of monetary value are the things that mean the least to those you left behind. Others will cling to it and cherish is as if it is a part of you. They will talk to it, hug it and yes even smell it if there was a chance that some sort of physical element of the deceased was still attached to it. I look at a picture of my brother everyday. Sometimes I talk to it, but I almost always make contact with the picture in some capacity.
If you are a parent or someone that comes from a loving family, what have you created that is entirely YOU that you can pass along to your children or loved ones? Yes, making sure they are financially set or receive some sort of financial support is always nice, but nobody is going to hug the money that you leave behind...not even if you were the Monopoly guy.
I would like to think that my blog is something that my children would appreciate if I got hit by a bus tomorrow. I work in radio and there are hours of recordings that have my voice on them. My kids have been on more vacations in their few years on this planet than I went on in my first 30, so I would hope they could look back on those moments with great fondness.
You hope that the people you leave behind truly understand who you were. There is so much going on in that brain of yours that will be lost to the world when you pass. Things that would be of little or no value to those who didn't know you, but would bring a world of comfort to those who are looking to cling to some sort of piece of you. Give them something. You owe it to them and these "things" will bring bring them comfort when they need it.
Paint something. Write a blog. Draw cartoons. Write letters to others so that they can read them after you pass. Hell, write a letter to your 6 year old daughter now, that she can read when she graduates college or gets married. Put the things that are uniquely you into something that your loved ones can have if and when the bus hits you. Trust funds are great and they bring people financial comfort, but you can't fall asleep hugging them like you would an old jersey your daddy used to wear.
