Earlier this summer, I shared a story about my grandmother during a legacy giving presentation for the Presbyterian Foundation’s Online Day of Learning webinar. I want to share it again here.

I was born in Toledo, Ohio, to first generation Korean-American parents. My maternal grandmother lived in Seoul, South Korea and she came to visit off and on during my childhood. Even though there was a bit of a language barrier between us, I had always felt close to my grandma. When I was in high school, my grandmother got really sick, and my mom brought her to the US so she could take care of her. She ended up living with us for more than 4 years.

At my childhood home, we had a two-story foyer and a landing on our second floor that had excellent natural lighting from our windows and sky lights. When I would wake up in the morning, my grandma would already be awake. I’d always find her sitting on the landing, reading her bible and praying. My grandma would invite me to sit with her. She would hold my hands as she prayed, and even with our language challenges, I knew she was praying for me and our family.

She also loved it when I sat with her on that landing as she read aloud from her Korean bible. She had a red colored pencil that she often handed to me. In the Korean language, there are characters that have little “o’s” or circles in the letters, and for some reason she encouraged me to color in those circles with the red colored pencil. I asked my mom recently why grandma let me color in her Bible. She said it was to mark the verses that were important to her. Perhaps it was reading the verses to me that made them important to her.

During my freshman year in college, my grandma’s health took a turn. She asked my mom to accompany her back to Korea, so she could die in her own land. During those last weeks that my mom and grandma had together, even amidst the grief my mother was feeling as she prepared to say goodbye to her mother, my mom made sure that my grandma’s affairs were in order and that she knew her wishes upon her death. In the spring of 2002, my grandmother died with my mom and some of her siblings by her side, and she was buried next to my grandfather.

My mom and her siblings each received a small inheritance, and a gift was given to her church in Seoul. My mom knew how much my grandma loved reading the Bible every day, so the gift to the church was a new set pew bibles. Considering that my grandmother attended one of the largest Presbyterian churches not only in Korea but in the world, this was a significant gift, and it honored my grandma’s love of scripture. My mom also inherited the most precious item that my grandma owned — her Bible, with all the colored in little circles that represented the verses that she loved and read to me. In life and death we belong to God, and I’m so grateful for my grandma’s legacy in the life of my family, for her church, and for my own faith journey.

Through intentional legacy planning, we all have the opportunity to write the final chapter of our story. We can continue to have a lasting impact on our loved ones and faith communities even after our time on Earth is completed. Through various estate planning vehicles and documents, you can shape how your values, your faith, and your generosity come together to create a lasting legacy.

Your Ministry Relations Officer at the Presbyterian Foundation is here to help you with your individual generosity goals, and we’re here to help congregations build and strengthen a legacy giving program as part of your stewardship efforts. Let us help you with your legacy and your story.