When I tell people what I do for my work, I usually get three different kinds of reactions.
- “I wish I had met you while my parents were still alive” or “…before my mom’s dementia really set in.”
- “I would love to do this for my parents (or grandparents, aunt, uncle, etc)! They have so many great stories. I want my kids to know them better. How do we start?”
- I also meet people who say, “I’d love to do this, but…"
“We’re so busy right now.”
“It’s just not the right time.”
“I might ask my cousin if he’ll do it for free.”
Want to know what happens to the folks who say "but..."?
I remember Hugh, a sweet, kind and funny gentleman who really wanted to record his stories with me, but he wasn’t sure about the cost and didn’t want to bother his kids to ask if they’d pitch in. He never told his stories or wrote them down or recorded them. Six months later Hugh died.
It broke my heart to learn Hugh was gone. I was also sad to know that he never had a chance to record his stories and pass on those important life lessons and experiences to his kids and grandkids. I felt a huge loss to think of this missed opportunity for connection and understanding.
“In the end… We only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.”
I don’t mean to be crass, but nobody is getting any younger here. Do you really want to wait until you finish painting the spare bedroom before you save the most important stories in your family?
I’ve helped hundreds of people to save their stories before it was too late. I’ve seen families come together around their stories: a grown daughter getting to know a whole new side of her mother when she read her mother's memoir; grandkids sending cousins mp3s from Grandpa’s audio memoir on their iPhones; an estranged son reunited with a father who rejected him ten years ago. I’ve helped people with early-stage dementia, people who have survived strokes, people with terminal cancer, people who have lived through incredible times and ordinary times too. They all told amazing stories! All of their families were glad they said, "Yes, let's do it."
Let someone know that you care and want to save their stories.
Hugh is one of the reasons I have developed story-saving packages for every budget and payment plans. Please don’t let money stop you from saving your story or the stories of your family. I am committed to helping others save their stories and want to find a way to make it work for you. I want to help your family save precious stories, voices, and photos from your history and turn them into books and audio productions that will be cherished forever.
We have so much to learn from our elders and from the past. The future depends on it.
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