The Left In Peace USB makes sure your family can find the practical things — the accounts, the documents, the names and numbers. This little guide is for the other half. The part only you can give them: who you were, what mattered to you, what you'd want them to know.
You don't have to answer every prompt. You don't have to write a single word if you'd rather record your voice on your phone instead. Pick the ones that feel like you, and skip the rest. Even three or four short answers will become something your family will read again and again.
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Where to put your answers
Open Left In Peace, go to the Messages section. There's room for letters to specific people and a general "to my family" message. Or write longhand and tuck the pages with the drive — both work.
Part OneYour Voice
The way you talk. The phrases you use. The small things that made you you. Years from now, a grandchild will want to hear what you sounded like — not just in words, but in how you put them together.
- What's a phrase or saying I'm known for in the family?
- What sound, smell, or song instantly takes me back to my childhood?
- What's a story about me that everyone tells, and what really happened?
- If someone wanted to find me in a crowd, what would I be doing?
- What word would I use to describe my own laugh?
- If you could hear me say one thing one more time, what would it be?
Part TwoYour Values
The things you'd want your family to carry forward — not as rules, but as your way of seeing the world.
- What did my parents teach me that I'm grateful for?
- What did I have to learn the hard way?
- What do I believe about money — what it's for, and what it isn't?
- What do I believe about work? About rest?
- What's the kind of person I always tried to be, even when no one was watching?
- What would I want my grandchildren to know about right and wrong?
- If I could give one piece of advice for hard times, what would it be?
- What's something I changed my mind about in life, and why?
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Part ThreeYour Love
This is the hardest part to write and the part your family will read most often. Short is fine. One sentence to each person is enough. They will fill in the rest.
- To my spouse or partner: what I want you to know that I maybe didn't say enough.
- To each of my children: the thing about you that I have loved most.
- To each of my grandchildren: what I hope for you as you grow up.
- To a friend who walked through life with me: what your friendship meant.
- To anyone I hurt or fell out with: what I wish I'd said.
- To someone I lost too soon: what I never got to tell you.
Part FourYour Stories
The small moments. The ones that aren't in any photo album but are the truest parts of your life.
- The story of how I met my spouse — the version I tell, and the version that's actually true.
- The job, hobby, or decision I'm proudest of, and why.
- A failure I learned more from than any success.
- A day I'd live over exactly the way it happened.
- The bravest thing I ever did.
- The kindest thing someone did for me that I never properly thanked them for.
- The recipe, song, or place that should always stay in the family.
Part FiveYour Wishes for Them
Not instructions — hopes. The things you want for the people you love, after you're not there to wish them in person.
- What I hope you'll do on a sad day.
- What I hope you'll do on a happy day.
- The kind of holiday I'd want you to keep having without me.
- Permission I want to give you, in writing, to: ____________.
- The mistake I hope you won't be afraid to make.
- If I could leave you with one feeling, it would be ____________.
A Few Quiet Suggestions
Start with the easiest one. Don't try to begin with the letter to your spouse. Start with a phrase you're known for. Build momentum.
Write the way you talk. Don't try to sound wise. Sound like you. They want you, not a Hallmark card.
Record your voice if writing is hard. Most phones have a Voice Memo app. Five minutes of you talking is worth more than ten pages of polished prose. Note where the recording is saved in your Messages section, so the family can find it.
Add a little each year. The Annual Review is a good time. You'll be surprised what's changed — and what hasn't.
This is a gift, not a duty. If a prompt doesn't speak to you, skip it. If none of them do, write one sentence: "I loved you. Thank you for being mine." That's enough.
What we leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.
