The paperwork keeps your family out of court. This is the part they will keep forever: the things you would want said, in your own words.
People keep the planner because it is useful. They keep the letter for the rest of their lives. Years from now, your handwriting on a page will mean more than anything else you leave behind. You do not need to be a writer. You only need to be honest.
Many people write the hardest letter first, while they have the nerve, then come back for the others over a few quiet evenings. There is no clock on this.
What I am most grateful for. What I learned that I hope you carry. What I want you to stop worrying about.
To
The day I knew. What you gave me. What I want for you after I am gone, including this: it is alright to be happy again.
To
The day you arrived. What I am proudest of. The thing I always meant to tell you. Make a copy of this page for each child.
Where I came from. The people who made me. The work I was proud of. A hard year and how I got through it. The grandchildren who will never get to ask me, and what I would have told them.
The places, the days, the ordinary mornings I would live again. Read this when you miss me, and go there if you can.
Whatever you most want the last words to be.