Anamnesis – or the legacy we leave behind

Roughly meaning remembrance, Anamnesis is a word used in various contexts and with even more various meanings. A doctor thinks of anamnesis as the data obtained from the patient’s medical history, as the latter one describes it, a philosopher may instantly think of the concept that people possess knowledge from their past incarnations, and a Christian priest will have in mind the good deeds, words of wisdom, death and revival of Christ, Anamnesis meaning that we should all remember and honour Him.

Taking all this into consideration, I suggest we extrapolate the meaning and think, just for a moment, of anamnesis as the way we should honour the memory of the dead. And what better way to do so than to follow their precise instructions, the ones written in their will. Of course, most of them state that “My money are to be divided in half between my children” and blah, blah. Pretty simple. But what if the will is not a traditional one? The Great Stork Derby was a competition in Toronto, Canada, in which women struggled to produce as many babies in 10 years as they could. A little bit funny and a little bit tragic, if you think about it, and there would be no apparent reason for such a silly bet. Still, Charles Vance Millar, a lawyer and somehow of a practical joker in his free time, thought otherwise. And so he decided to leave his fortune to the woman who managed to win this competition, which started immediately after his death. The Queen of Mean, Leona Helmsley, who got her nick-name because of her tyrannical behavior, was a businesswoman who made her money from real estate investments and in the hotel industry. And also from fraud, as she was charged with tax evasion in 1989. But what really got her famous was her personality, as she was tough, unforgiving and uncaring. Some say that, during her trial, she stated: “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” So, there is no surprise that such a difficult woman would have a difficult to understand will.Apparently, she had a soft spot for her dog, as she left Trouble $12 million.

Another interesting will was the one André Tchaikowsky left at his death. Well intentioned, Tchaikowsky offered his body to medical research, but not his skull. That was donated to the Royal Shakespeare Company, to be used on stage. We all know Hamlet and the famous skull he holds, which belongs to his father. Well, usually, the said skull is a fake one, so no actor felt ready to hold a real one for a few years. Still, in 2008, actor David Tennant decided to do so and Tchaikowsky finally got his role as Yorik in the tragedy. There aren’t many words left to say here, as I am not planning to write a will just yet, but I suggest that, if you want to do something, you should do it while you are still alive. If that is not possible and you want to, say, play the role of a skull, then you shouldn’t hesitate to write that in your will. You never know when your wish is going to come true.