Helping Hospice thank its donors

Posted by Susan Turnbull May 26, 2011 in Blog

Thank you to Hospice of the North Shore and Greater Boston for inviting me to speak to their donors and friends today at a lovely luncheon program at the Salem Country Club. HNSGB is growing very strongly – not only in their physical presence, but in the programs they are offering patients and their families. I was delighted to be part of their efforts to thank their many supporters by speaking on the topic of legacy and ethical wills.

One cannot come away from any experience with a Hospice organization – as a patient, as a family member, staff, volunteer or supporter without coming face to face with one of the most profound questions of life: What is my legacy going to be? How am I going to be remembered when the time comes? Am I truly living the life for which I hope I will be remembered?

One of the things I talked about today was the very notion of “legacy,”  and its paradoxes:

• Let’s bring the term legacy down to earth and define it as “impact:” the impact you have  – with your actions, your words, your character and personality. Defined this way, legacy is full of life and action, and being created every day of your  life.
• Legacy is a mystery, however, because you never know the far-reaching impact that your actions, your words and your character have on people. I retold a wonderful  story to demonstrate the mystery of legacy, a story I heard told on StoryCorps earlier this year about the impact a librarian had on Judge Olly Neal when he was a particularly unruly student in high school long ago.
• Legacy is an equation of givers and receivers. You are not the one in control of your legacy – it is the receivers who are, those who decide consciously or unconsciously whether to pick up and carry what you have shown them or told them.
• You are not in control – and yet -  intention matters a lot. Thinking, talking and acting with intention to create an impact goes a long way to making it come true
• And what is the best example of the power of intention to create a positive legacy in all its mystery, to have a powerful impact upon countless others? Those who have given so generously to Hospice of the North Shore and Greater Boston.