Ever thought of writing a memoir?

Many people don't realise that the legacy you leave behind doesn't necessarily have to be a financial one - it may include such things as the values you've passed on to your family members, organ donation or leaving your body to medical science, the copies of the crumbling documents you spent hours transcribing for the town's historical society or the family tree you compiled so that future generations would know their roots.

Writing a memoir is another good way of passing along details of family events and bringing to life photos of, otherwise, long-forgotten family members.  Later, you may want to take things a stage further and try writing a biography of some family luminary or 'personality' whose life deserves remembrance, long after they've gone, such as your war hero uncle or grandfather or that intrepid great-aunt who was always in some scrape or other... (Maybe someone in your family has already sprung to mind?) 

However, if you're not quite at the 'biography' stage yet, the good news is that anyone can write a memoir or autobiography with just a little help.  Here are a few tips from Reader's Digest to get you started.