Forever Photo

What to write

What to write in a letter to be read after you’ve passed away

This is the letter people put off longest. You don’t have to write the letter in one sitting. Answer these four questions in your own words, and come back to the letter whenever you want.

Write a letter for later with these questions

Your first three keepsakes are free. After that, plans from $4.99, paid once. See pricing

A man on the back steps of the family house in the evening, reading on his phone

Four questions to start from

  1. 1Start however feels right.Many people begin with “if you’re reading this”. You don’t have to.
  2. 2What do you want your family to know about how you felt about them?Say it the way you’d say it out loud.
  3. 3Is there anything you never got around to saying?There’s no hurry. You can come back to this question.
  4. 4How do you want to finish?Nothing here is final. You can change the letter any time before the day.

Watch Ruth write one on her phone

She answers the questions, and Forever Photo writes the first draft. Press Play to hear it with sound.

0:00 / 1:24

A sample letter

Katie,

If you’re reading this, I’ve gone and left before the dishes were done. Your mother will have something to say about that.

I’m writing this at the kitchen table on a Sunday. You’re out in the yard with the kids, trying to get the old swing down off the oak, and Jack’s telling you you’re doing it wrong. You aren’t. You were four when you took the back off the radio to find the man who was talking in it.

A few things I never got around to. The dent in your first car was me, not the kid at school. I should have come to Paris. And you were right to quit that job. I didn’t say so at the time because your mother already had, and I wasn’t going to agree with her twice in one week.

The garage is a mess. Give the tools to Jack. He’ll pretend he knows what they’re for.

Don’t sit in the house. Take the kids to the beach.

Dad

Write a letter for later with these questions

Take as long as you need. Nobody sees the letter until the day you choose.

Your first three keepsakes are free. After that, plans from $4.99, paid once. See pricing