My Life, My Words: Taking Control of My Legacy

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

By Tracy Schruder

Writing my autobiography is a project I’ve been working on since I lost my grandmother. She was my first real experience with death and loss. At the time, she was 53, and I was 21. We were incredibly close; she was my mother’s mother, and I affectionately called her “Mum” because she disliked the word “grandma.”

After she passed away, everyone seemed uncertain about how to describe the person she was. Since she wasn’t much of a writer, there were no journals or written records to reference. Eventually, my uncle, who spoke at her wake, shared his experience with her and his understanding of who she was and what she lived for. I felt uneasy, thinking to myself about all the things he didn’t mention about her.

If I had been the one to speak, I would have included some personal details about Mum – like how she could win a card game by inciting a battle between her opponents, insisting that one of them had cheated. She loved watching her opponents fight against each other. Mum had a gift for manipulation, and even though she didn’t always win every card game, she made sure she could win by default by rallying everyone up and ending the game with her score at the highest.

This experience made me realize that I didn’t want my family to be uncertain about my life and legacy when my time came. So, I decided then that I would write my own autobiography, keeping a detailed account of my life through writing and journaling.

My Opening Sentence (s)

I left a mark, not a stain. I broke the mould, no one could be the same. Unique in all my uniqueness, I did it my way! As Frank Sinatra sang it. As I lived it. 

I hope you enjoyed my blog post!😊

Thank you for reading 🙏😊