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| Heidi Chiavaroli |
As my
family mourns the loss of my great-grandmother this week, I’m dwelling a bit on
legacies.
My
great-grandmother left us with memories of a beautiful life. She was a caring wife,
mother, daughter, and sister. She was even one of the first women recognized to
wear—gasp—pants in the workplace!
My
great-grandmother was also an artist. She painted gorgeous pictures. After she
passed, it became incredibly important that I possess one of these creations. Whatever
painting I receive will have a small piece of my great-grandmother hidden in
each brushstroke. At one moment in time, the painting was her sole focus, her
creative passion. In having one of her paintings, I will have a precious bit of
my grandmother’s life.
I often
think about the kind of legacy I want to leave. Above all, I want to be known
as a woman who loved well. A woman who loved her Creator and Savior, a woman
who loved her husband, her kids, her family, and her friends. But it doesn’t
have to end there. As a writer, I can leave another type of legacy.
A legacy
of stories.
One day my great-granddaughter could read my
stories and in doing so, possess a piece of me. I think that’s one of the
reasons I’m so adamant about writing real, about writing truth, even if it takes
some ugliness to get there.
I want to
leave my own legacy, told in stories, that can reveal a truth about myself, and
a truth bigger than myself.
How
awesome an opportunity us writers have!
What kind
of legacy in stories do you want to leave?
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Heidi
Chiavaroli writes History Woven in Grace. She is a wife,
mother, disciple, and grace-clinger. She is a member of American Christian
Fiction Writers and has finaled in the Genesis contest
and My Book Therapy’s Frasier contest.
