The Gift That Keeps Giving Long After We Are Gone
By Diane Ogle • March 17, 2022
Thank you for the gift of FOREVER. I want to share with you a personal story that warms my heart, thanks to a FOREVER account.
A dear friend of mine, Kay, purchased a FOREVER account from me in September of 2015. I helped her learn the memory-keeping system and she truly appreciated the value of preserving her photographs and her personal history in FOREVER.
Sadly, a month ago, Kay died suddenly from a brain aneurism. As I spent hours with her family, watching her breathing become more labored, conversations began about planning her funeral and celebrating her life. I offered to help them and mentioned Kay’s FOREVER account as a place to locate important memories.
I was surprised that her family had no knowledge of her FOREVER account and no idea what a treasure she had left behind for them. As her friend and account manager, I had encouraged her to add her son and daughter as Friends & Family over the years, but the requests hadn’t been accepted so they never had access to view her account.
It was such an honor and privilege for me to share this one last gift that my friend had prepared for her loved ones.
The spark of joy on their faces was amazing to watch as I opened her account for them to see! They said they remembered their mom doing “something” with her photos but never gave it another thought . . . until now.
Kay had spent years digging into the history of her family’s ancestors and had created albums of photos and documents spanning three generations back to her great-grandparents. It was a wonderful tribute to Kay that her children were able to use Kay’s photographs to create a beautiful slide show for her funeral, many of which her family members had never seen before. I was honored to give her eulogy and I mentioned how thoughtful Kay was in keeping her family history alive for future generations. Kay took to heart the fact that, far too often, when a person dies it’s as if their information and history is lost with them and a part of the family library closes its doors forever. Kay left her family a beautiful legacy that her loved ones can both enjoy and carry forward for future generations by adding their own stories.
In the coming days and weeks, I will sit down with Kay’s family to explain more about how to use Kay’s account and add her daughter as an Account Manager. One of the wonderful things about a FOREVER account is that upon an account holder’s death, the account isn’t closed, but instead can be transferred to a family member for the remaining family to enjoy and grow. I plan on contacting all my clients this week to share with them the importance of making sure their families are linked as Family & Friends on their FOREVER accounts.
FOREVER is such a gift…a gift that keeps on giving, long after we are gone. Thank you, Glen, for your vision.