Do we get to choose our legacy?
Or does our legacy choose us?
Heavy for a late-August midweek though, no?
Our legacy is like that last roll of film in our camera that isn’t developed until well after we’re done on this earth. It’s the ultimate statement that sums up what we’ve done with our lives. Scary that it can be summed up at all.
Every month, I compile a post called 6 Words. Ernest Hemingway inspired it when he said any story can be told in a six-word sentence. I ask bloggers, friends, strangers, and a few strange blogger friends to respond to a prompt.
August is What Will Your Legacy Be? Month. What would yours be? It can be profound or humorous … or a little of both. Think, “Greatest grilled-cheese chef on a budget.” or “Poster child for morning road rage.”
What would yours be?
1. Obstacle Conquering – Life Altering – Healthy Life.
Kateri V., of Just Life: Take 2 blog
2. Three brilliant kids no housework skills.
Sarah W., of Mum of Three World
3. Cooking sans smoke alarm ringing? Boring.
Meredith S., of The Mom of the Year blog
4. Most amazing kids on this planet.
Sarah N., of The Momisodes blog
5. A human magnet for the dysfunctional.
Melissa
6. High heels. Burnt water. Happy daughter.
Ashley T., of The Confessions of a Working Mum blog
7. Loved family, lived in the moment.
MaryAnne K., of Mama Smiles blog
8. Super mean without her Diet Coke.
Amber M., of Airing My Dirty Laundry blog
9. Sanity maintainer in small person asylum.
Melissa S., of Home on Deranged blog
10. Record: Most parent tantrums in store.
Tammie B., of The Graying Chronicles blog
11. Family history. Immense strength. Profound pride.
Lori C., of Lori Crane blog
12. She strived to do her best.
Kelly W., of the Centsible Life blog
13. “Photographs on walls, words in hearts.”
Tamara B., of Tamara like Camera blog
14. My biggest supporter, sometimes a yeller.
Kathy G., of Kissing the Frog blog
15. Kick-ass cook of matzah ball soup.
Dana H., of Kiss My List blog
16. Child’s heart in a grown-up’s body.
Shelly B., of DIY Mama Blog
17. Grandchildren’s snotty kisses always warmly embraced.
Lyn C., of The Call of the Pen blog
18. Faith Slinger and Fitness Coach Wannabe.
Jennifer L, of That’s a Jenn Story blog
19. Hangover aficionado with the fastest remedies.
Marcia D., of Menopausal Mother blog
20. girls, girls, girls, girls, girls, boys.
beth k., of i didn’t have my glasses on … blog
21. Tattered underwear and black hole bras.
Mary W., of Outmanned Mommy blog
22. Fell often but always got up.
Kerri A., of Undiagnosed but Okay blog
23. Teaching kids kindness, laughter, and zest.
Cynthia, of You Signed up for What?! blog
24. To love people, no matter what.
Megan W., of The Walker Fireside Chats blog
25. What you feed will surely grow.
Rory B., of Time Out For Mom blog
26. Outkicked my coverage on life’s field.
Michelle, of Mama Mick blog
27. Craziest, chaotic wife, mom and friend.
Debbie T., of Heartbeat ~ Soul Stains blog
28. A gardener who cultivated positive minds.
Archita, of A Journey Called Life … blog
29. Queen of triggering mealtime smoke alarms.
Kelly M., of Just Typikel … blog
30. Wrangler of boys, lover of souls.
Rachael B., of Three Boys and a Mom blog
31. Kept everyone laughing – not always intentionally.
Lois M., of Midlife at the Oasis blog
32. Procrastinating like a true blue champion.
Clay W., of Making the Days Count blog
33. Tireless muffin baker…and crumb sweeper.
Charity M., of Foodlets blog
34. Remained homicide-free for one more month!
Morgan M., if The Inklings of Life blog
35. Spring Break Slut 1998 Title Holder.
Shay, of Trashy blog
36. Clear skies left. He turned right.
Momus, of The Next Delusion blog
Cassandra, of The Next Delusion blog
Just a dad ... 
From the sounds of their legacies, you’ve got some pretty amazing readers, Eli!
I really do – and I’m thankful you’re among them.
Absolutely love it!!!! So honored to be a part of this one! You’re awesome, and your legacy will certainly match that! 😍
Thanks Rachael! You did good again. I thought of 17 self-deprecating sentences before I arrived at this one.
Hahaha…I totally understand!!! This one was a toughy!
The next one will be gravy.
Can’t wait! 😉
I’ll come up with the prompt tomorrow, in fact.
Yay, can’t wait to see what it is!
I’ll email you soon.
👍☺
Amazing list right there! Those are some awesome legacies! 😉
Not bad, eh? We did good.
Listened without judgement. Lived with compassion.
Hope you are doing well.
I love that one. That’s the kind that leaves the world a better place, and isn’t that what we’re after?
I’m doing great … hope you are too.
Am I a strange blogger friend?
Ah, these are good! Dana, I want that soup. More than Berger cookies. What time is dinner next Friday night?
I’m also totally laughing at Amber’s.
Rory’s is just.. fantastic.
Janine’s – totally doable, I should say.
Yours too.
You’re all that, and about 78 things more.
What the hell’s a Berger cookie? I’d eat one and I don’t even know what it is.
Thanks. You did a good job yourself, you know. Complete with art.
Tamara – anytime! Eli, a berger cookie is basically chocolate fudgey icing on a white cookie. Delish.
I’m down with that, Dana.
6 words, the legacies that keep on giving –
… six words at a time.
You have legacies coming out of the woodwork there Mate. They’re great.
Thanks mate – it’s quite a collection, isn’t it?
Indeed they are.
Eli, thank you for including me – I am paying for my legacy this morning. Have a great week and enjoy the last official weekend of summer.
Legacies aren’t easy, friend. I hope this long weekend includes some disc golf, grilled meat, and time on a blanket just looking at the clouds or stars.
WOW! These are terrific! Thank you for including me!
Thanks for taking part, Hilary. Always good to have you. (You should have brought your Nerf gun).
These make me laugh so much! Thanks for making my day, Eli and everyone! Ashley T.’s is making me chuckle all day–love it!
That’s what girls in middle school used to say about my love letters! This group really brought it this time. Thanks for playing your part.
Lots of kick-ass legacies! Great idea – hope it’ll take a long time till they come to life.
They’re all over, aren’t they? I hope none of these come to life until at least 2099.
Yay, I made it in just under the wire and wasn’t sure I was pulling this one off! But seriously, so many good ones and think Tamara’s and yours too totally made me smile and was totally nodding my head as so very true!! 🙂
Not sure we’re allowed to have one of these without you, J. My alternative sentence: “Poor bastard really tried hard, though.”
Ok, after the long day I had, you totally made me smile! Thank you 😉
And I got the notification just when I was struggling on the disc golf course and hurting trees and thinking thoughts. So, you did me a solid too! (I played better right after I got your notification!)
And now I got “That’s What Friends Are For” playing in my head!! 😉
Keep smiling, keep shining, Janine. Knowing you can always count on me.
For sure.
Sing it Eli!! And definitely can count on me for sure, too!! 😉
Hi Eli,
These are incredible! Thank you so much for including me among your cool blogger buds and friends. There are too many good ones to pick my favorite, so I’m printing and tacking on my bulletin board and titling it “Legacy List.” Thanks for providing such a great list of words to live by. You’re a gem 🙂
Michelle
Hey Michelle. Glad you liked them. You’re definitely in the club. Love your idea of printing it out. I think you all are gems – I’m just the rusty old pan than helps find them.
It’s amazing how much we can fit into 6 words! I loved all these legacies! Thanks for including me this month, Eli. I can definitely relate to many of them, including “crumb sweeper!”
Sometimes, you have to pack the sentence tight, but it can be done. These legacies encourage me. Glad you were able to take part. As a dad, I consider crumbs our contribution to smaller creatures who can’t fend for themselves, so why sweep them?
Oh, I have been startled by a mouse in my kitchen late at night when I was blogging. Believe me, I sweep up those crumbs! 😉
I consider it kind of like feeding seagulls at the beach to leave crumbs around for God’s wee creatures.
Legacy schmegacy! Give me another beer!
Word ’em up, Tobe!
These are wonderful! Mine would be “In the end, love matters the most.” 🙂
Glad you liked them, Michelle. Yours is so true (even if I would edit the last ‘end’ for compliance!)
I LOVE these!! All so different but really thought provoking. I’m glad that everyone didn’t tell jokes and leave mine the only serious one. One day, I will be able to sum up my life in 6 (witty) words. But until then…thanks for including me!
Thanks Amy! We thought about conspiring and making yours the only serious one, but that was too hard. All my witty words are self-deprecating, though. Not that there’s anything wrong with that …
Glad you played along, Amy. I think people are going to love your guest post.
Thanks so much for including me, Eli! Such a fun challenge, and ask these answers are great!
Glad you got in on the action! The results are always amazing too …
Officially renaming my house “small person asylum”. and Love Love Tamara’s! that’s one I could definitely get behind.
Another smashing outing!
When I Google Earth your house, a pop-up says “Small Person Asylum.” Tamara’s kicked ass, didn’t it? It’s a way of life. As is the 6 words – the best thing to hit us all on a monthly basis, I’d venture to say. Better than menstruation and water bills, anyway.
“You were touched by a pig” – hopefully that turns out true my friends. XOXO – Bacon
You definitely touched my friends here in my absence! And I mean that in the most PBS-daytime-safety way possible.
aaww thanks my friend. I really appreciate that. I know they touched this little oinker! XOXO – Bacon
Touched by an Oinker – wasn’t that a TV drama with Michael Landon?
Snorts and rolls around laughing. Somehow I don’t think so but it would make a good show for me to be a star in – don’t you think? XOXO – Bacon
Great legacies, everyone! I loved the combination of those who took the assignment seriously with those who didn’t. 🙂
Thanks Kim! It kind of goes the way life does – plenty serious, but plenty of chances to get away from serious, too.
These are all great! Thanks for inviting me to play!
Not a stinker in the bunch. Thanks for playing along, Marcia!
I love the variety of these. I don’t know Cassandra, but based on her legacy, we could be twins. Always a pleasure to be a part of this, Eli!
They’re all over life, aren’t they? You’d love Cassandra – check out her blog. And thanks for join in!
These are awesome. Glad I could get in at the very end. Thanks for the invite!
p.s. I’m now Jennifer I.
Aren’t they? I’m glad to have you in again. And duly noted on the I.
What great, creative responses! I can’t pick a favorite either 🙂
It’s a good collection, isn’t it? I think your favorite depends on your perspective in the moment.
Very good point!
Oh – this might be my favorite 6 words yet!!! I loved reading all the awesome legacies!!!
This’ll be tough to top, won’t it? This’ll be the 6 words legacy, perhaps.
Okay, some of these people have great legacies. I feel like mine is mostly about survival! 🙂 Thanks for letting me join up again. Looking forward to more!
It kind of negates the people who curl their eyelashes, doesn’t it? And really, none of them are far from survival. Glad you played along … stay close so you can get in the next one too, ok?
I love all of these! Thanks for including me 🙂
Yours is the only one that doesn’t suck.
Kidding! Glad you were part of it!
That’s some deep thinking for the end of summer! A great idea though – and many of the submissions were moving. Love it!
Ain’t it though? Glad you liked it Louise! It was a good batch.
You have amazing readers and your high level of thinking in their participation is exciting! Fun stuff!
I really do. They make this thing sing.
Thanks Eli, for including me in this list. I had the joy of more snotty kisses over the last two days. My son and daughter-in-law moved house with 2-year-old Sophie and 3-year-old Henry. They were very excited to show grandma their new bedrooms in their brand new treehouse (Henry calls a two-story house a treehouse 🙂 )
Thanks Lyn, for contributing to this list. Snotty kisses kind of rock. They have a pretty cool mommy.
Love these – such great legacies! Much too hard to pick a favorite. Not sure what mine would be. Maybe. . Beautiful daughters, happy family, life well-lived.
They give me the sense there’s something good going on out there, Lisa. Plenty of favorites to choose from, too. And yours is right there with them. It’s hard to ask for anything more than that – yours has the good stuff covered!
These are wonderful. I never came up with anything. Legacy- that’s the big one!
Glad you liked them, Jessie. This was a tough one. I’ll be a little easier next month.
I think.
“I loved the world beyond myself”
I love these Eli. What a fantastic prompt!
Love it Kir! Glad you liked the list. I think this was the toughest prompt yet!
thanks for letting me submit after the fact. 🙂
I’ll always want your contribution, Kir!
SOOO Awesome!!!
Glad you liked them Cynthia!
Loved reading all of these—a great mix of silly and serious! And now I can’t wait to try Dana’s matzah ball soup. Thanks for including me!
We kind of hit all spots, didn’t we Katie? I think Dana said she was going to make a batch for all of us this weekend. Thanks for playing along again!
What a fab selection. Thanks very much for including me 🙂
Not to shabby, eh? So glad you joined us, Sarah!
I only just now got a chance to come over and read these–and I do wonder how I keep getting asked back, but I am SO grateful that you continue to include me. You are so much fun, Eli!
We need, um, diversity. That’s why you get to come back again and again. Hell, I’m about to send you the next one, too.
Honored to be included in this great list! Your legacy is perfect! As parents, all we can do is hope we leave that mark with our children. Thanks again Eli!
Reblogged this on jennsmidlifecrisis and commented:
We survived the first day of school, or rather Little Guy did! Once he was settled, Hubby and I spent some adult time together. We picked up Timmies and came home to play Minecraft. What?!? We never get a turn! 🙂
My friend, Coach Daddy, did his famous 6 Words post again, asking a number of bloggers to share their legacy for the next generation. I encourage you to take some adult time and check it out. It’s always better to laugh than cry! Happy Wednesday!
Thanks for spreading the love – and sharing your legacy, Jenn!
Excellent list, Eli! I have to admit, I think yours was my favorite this time!
Thanks Sandy. This time???
I kid, I kid. Thank you – it’s like an all-star game of brevity on this post, so I’m honored!
Haha! Funny man!
These are some great legacies!!
I think we’re in good hands, Rabia!