In an age when books are threatened with disappearance being replaced by "tablets" (you know, the things we bought at the five & dime to write on), we'll focus this month on the legacy of loving books and stories to pass forward to a generation of young readers.

Travel is one way we can connect with our ancestral families. Given that we are a nation of immigrants, the opportunity to journey back to our pasts, to our and our ancestors' homelands, may be a powerful experience of belonging, of both joy and sadness, that changes our perspective about...

When we experience communal and countrywide mourning as we have because of the deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School this past month, we yearn to be able to do something positive. Of course, we can send our thoughts and prayers to the mourners and to the entire community so deeply...

Not long ago I was reintroduced to angels -- not the kind with rosy cheeks or gauzy, transparent wings, but the angels in real life. You know, the people who come into your life with special support, a gift of wisdom, full-hearted support. Sometimes those angels may not even know...

My musings as I approach my 74th birthday: Maybe that's why I feel invisible! But I'm feeling energetic and in love with my life, and I realize my blessings. I've not had a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, my life is full and rich with relationships, meaningful work, learning and...

The legacy of civility, beyond our personal hopes for our families and loved ones, is imperative in our own country and the world. We have just in the past two years witnessed violent tragedies in our own country, the Jasmine Revolution in my Peace Corps home, Tunisia, and the ongoing...

Have you ever considered the lessons you learned and the love you expressed through your relationship with animals? Pets connect us to nature and are one of nature's best sources of love.

For children pets are playmates and a source of solace, love, protection, and companionship. How important was the...

One significant purpose for writing our legacies is to extract the lessons we've learned from our experience, from our "stories," to pass them forward to future generations. We do this even as we live in the chaos of world politics, a politics that has hijacked religion, using its words and...

Traditionally Memorial Day is to honor the memories of those we've lost, particularly those who sacrificed their lives in military service for our country. In contemporary practice, some visit cemeteries to plant flowers at graves, some attend memorial services with their religious community, but typically we celebrate this long weekend...

In previous years we've concentrated on various legacy strategies to make the May Hallmark holiday, Mother's Day, substantive and meaningful.

One year, we celebrated our mothers with legacy letters of appreciation. In another year we reflected on mothering as action, something women do whether they have children or not....

Our legacies are incomplete if the values we espouse are not backed up with action. It's easy to talk the talk, but walking that talk is very different. Using our lives to make a difference is something we all aspire to do, and to leave as part of our legacy...

Why do we plant seeds, saplings and seedlings with hope in our hearts each spring? Why do we relish harvesting in autumn? We plant in order to harvest -- not just for the moment but to preserve and nurture the future.

Think about the physical act of planting as an...

We are always in some kind of transition of our ideas, in our personal lives, in our relationships, in the seasons of the year and in our country's public life and the world. This isn't new news; Heraclitus said in the 400s BCE, "The only constant is change."

All...

What more lasting way to express love than to put it on paper?

Our world bombards us all day every day with words, most we do our best to ignore, delete or click away with a remote device. Or we rely on others to express our feelings for us --...

How did you celebrate the holidays that marked the beginning of days with more light than dark, the birth of Jesus, the Maccabees reclaiming the Temple and relighting the everlasting light at this time of year: solstice, Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza?

"Without darkness, nothing comes to birth. 
Without light,...

In a world fraught with violence and destruction, we need more than ever... beauty. Of course beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. How can we pass forward to future generations what we perceive and experience as beautiful? Why is it an important value? What sensations and spiritual connections...

Without succumbing to trite phrases, political slogans or a naive perspective, I suggest that we spend this month focused on the importance of providing future generations, our children and grandchildren, with a legacy of hope.

At the High Holy Days this year my rabbi, Simeon Glaser, gave a moving and...

"Legacy Tips and Tools" commonly focuses on specific legacy writing topics. As our e-list continues to expand, many new legacy writers are unaware of the basic principles of legacy writing. Others, who've been writing for some time, can benefit from a review to refine or renew their commitment to legacy...

"To have a friend takes time."
-- Georgia O'Keefe

All respect to O'Keefe, but friendship is about more than the priority of time. It takes values in common, trust, caring, tolerance, compassion, perseverance and even love. Friendship is built on mutual acceptance of our essential natures.

When...

For whatever cultural or natural reasons, at a certain time in our lives we become aware of a deep yearning for our family roots. Some of us, because we are a nation of immigrants, make pilgrimages far from home to walk the land our forefathers and foremothers did. Others of...