It’s the memories of time spent with loved ones that stays with us, says celebrity mum Emma Forbes in a recent radio campaign with The Co-operative…
Mobile phones, email and social networking have all made it quicker and easier to communicate with each other – but how much face-to-face time do we actually spend with our families?
‘It’s often tempting to fire off a quick text message rather than pick up the phone or visit our parents,’ says mum-of-two and radio presenter Emma Forbes. ‘Modern communication has distanced some of us from our families to quite a great extent,’ she says. ‘Although social networking is fabulous on many levels, we have to retain that point of contact where we talk face to face.’
In fact, a study by The Co-operative found many of us don’t know much at all about our parents’ lives, with 39 per cent of people saying they don’t know enough about their dads and 60 per cent not knowing what their fathers would like to have done in their lives.
‘The people we should know about are our families. My kids love hearing stories from my parents, and my husband and me, about our lives,’ says Emma. ‘It’s important to ask about our parents’ lives so that we can pass it on through the generations. ‘All mothers and fathers have had amazing lives and everybody has a story to tell. If you don’t pass on the stories of your parents, 
when they go from your life it’s an incredible shame,’ she says.
More importantly, you may never have discussed how they would like their amazing life to be celebrated. That’s why The Co-operative has set up the website www.youramazinglife.co.uk.
‘The Co-operatives makes it very easy to plan a funeral and to sort out wills. I know people don’t like to talk about all of this, but if you do, you’ll celebrate your parents’ lives in the right way,’ says Emma.
50 fun things to do together
The Co-operative Wills and Funeral Planning has a guide to 50 fun ways to spend time with family and create great memories – here are just a few...
- Make your own time capsule and include one thing for each
family member.
- Go on an historical tour of your local town.
- Look through old photo albums.
- Climb a hill and enjoy the view from the top!
- Make a family scrapbook together.
- Play ‘start a story’, where everyone gets to tell part of the tale.
- Walk the dog together or, if you don’t have one, borrow a neighbour’s.
- Play a board game from your childhood.
- Draw your family tree.
- Collect bramble fruit to make a crumble.
Find out more
Our Will Writing and Funeral Planning services are designed to help you pass on what really matters to the people you love, in a way that’s tailored to you and your life. For a FREE guide to Wills and Funeral Planning, call 0800 023 4710 or visit.www.youramazinglife.co.uk