In workshops, I like to ask participants if they have a legal will—a written document that outlines how they want to distribute their financial assets. And hands shoot up. Then I ask them if they have an ethical will. Very few hands go up.
An ethical will is often called a legacy letter. Both types of wills are ways to share and pass on our beliefs, values, stories, and life lessons. contain your wishes, thoughts, feelings, memories, life lessons—anything you hold dear. These written documents help repair relationships by making amends.
After my son graduated from college and moved out, I found a bundle of letters on top of his childhood desk. It was a collection of all of the notes and cards from me over the years, from when he was age 10 at camp all the way through college.