Every
year on Memorial Day, we pause to honor those who gave their lives in service
to our country. We see flags at half-staff. We hear solemn tributes. And maybe
we take a moment of silence to remember someone who’s no longer with us — a
father, a grandfather, a cousin, a friend who wore the uniform with courage and
pride.
But
if we’re honest, this day isn’t just about the fallen. It’s about the legacy
they leave behind.
It’s
about the stories that shaped us — and the ones we carry forward. I’ve been
thinking a lot lately about how we remember. About the photos tucked in
dusty albums. The tales told at cookouts and funerals. The lessons passed down
in prayers and proverbs. And I wonder…
What
happens to those memories when the storyteller is gone?
I
want to talk to you — especially those of us who are the matriarchs,
patriarchs, and mentors, the ministers and memory-keepers — about something
urgent. We are living in a time when people are scrolling past their own
history. When we’re so busy surviving, we don’t take time to write down
how we survived. When wisdom is walking around in people’s heads, never
to be passed on because they “don’t have time” or “don’t know how to write.”
That’s
a tragedy all its own.
Your
lived experience is not ordinary. It is sacred. It is instructive. And it
deserves to be documented. Not only for you — but for the people who will one
day wish they could ask you just one more question.
This
Memorial Day, I want to challenge the way we think about legacy. Yes, it’s
about remembering the heroes who have gone before us. But it’s also about
becoming stewards of our own history — while we’re still here to tell
it. Do you have a story you’ve been meaning to share? Maybe it’s about your
faith walk. Maybe it’s about building a business from scratch.
Maybe it’s about losing someone and learning how to live again. You don’t have
to write a 300-page novel. You just need to start. Start small. Start with
purpose. Start with the desire to make sure your story — your wisdom, your
voice, your legacy — lives on beyond you.
Let’s
talk about the thing that keeps most people stuck: fear.
💭 “I’m not a real writer.”
💭 “I don’t know where to begin.”
💭 “What if it’s not good enough?”
💭 “What if no one wants to read it?”
I
hear this all the time from brilliant, life-tested people who absolutely
have something worth sharing. And I always say: you don’t need to be a writer. You
need to be a witness. You don’t need fancy words. You need honest ones.
You don’t need perfect punctuation. You need purpose.
That’s
why I created the Quickstart Ebook Creation Course — to help you get the
story out of your head and into the hands of someone who needs it. In just 15
days. No overwhelm. No complicated tech. No publishing nightmares. Just your
story, structured and supported — start to finish.
Who
are the people you remember today? What lessons did they teach you? What parts
of their stories shaped who you’ve become? Now here’s the question that
hits home:
Have
you written down the lessons you’ve learned for the next generation?
Let’s
change that. Let’s turn memories into movement. Let’s write to heal, to teach,
and to pass it on.
Stay
tuned for something special coming in June to help you start writing the story someone else will be grateful you told. Because
legacy isn’t just about what we leave behind.
It’s about what we write forward.
With purpose,
Dr. Janice R. Love
Pearls Perfected Institute
📧 info@janicerlove.com | 🌐 pearlsperfectedinstitute.com🎙 Host of Asking for a Sister Friend | 📘 Creator of Black Men Write Memoirs Too
