Why do this? And why do it now??
My father passed away when my kids were young.
I realized his memory would live on only if I made a point of telling his stories to my kids. But I knew my own memory of him would fade over time … and also that there was so much of his life I never even knew! My kids would grow up not really knowing who he was.
And that made me very sad. But it was too late 😟
So I resolved not to let that happen to my mother. Very expensively and with a lot of effort over a two year period, I created a Memoir for her. And we finally finished it just as she was developing early signs of Alzheimers!
As it turns out, not only was she so proud of "her book" — it proved to be amazing therapy as she declined over the next few years. Her caregivers were able to relate to her as a vibrant, young lady instead of as a very frail, old woman near death. What a difference it made.
And thank goodness we did it in the nick of time!
Sample Memoir
When you're viewing these sample stories, try to imagine this is your father talking … or grandfather … or maybe even great-grandfather!
These are just a few stories from Rubyn, who is currently creating a Memoir in LifeTales. He gave us permission to share part of it with you so you can see how it works and inspire some ideas. They're real stories, not just mock-ups!
He's adding to his Memoir every week or two, whenever one of the participants (family and close friends) asks him a question or as he thinks about stories himself.
No need to organize or plan ahead. As he thinks of a story, he just creates it and adds a tag. Under the tag, it shows up in reverse chronological order.
Boom — a life story with chapters, growing bit by bit, story by story 😀
How does LifeTales help?
When you think of Memoirs, most people immediately think "Ugh — that's a lot of effort!" or "Who cares about my story?"
With LifeTales, it can be fun, easy and rewarding. And such a huge honor for the subject!
No planning needed
Stories can be created as they are remembered. Add tags and BOOM, they end up in the right chapter, sorted by date.
Privately Social
Invite other family members to view and comment. People can frequently show they DO care. And it's also great for getting additional memories from others (eg Uncles).
Easy
Traditional memoirs are written — a very time-intensive process. With LifeTales, you can use video, text, pictures, or even audio voiceovers describing the pictures. Imagine your grandkids in 30 years being able to view their Great Grandparent talking about their life or hearing them tell a story about a picture.
Request a Story
Children — and any other participant — can ask questions and request stories by video. It's incredibly motivating for Parents/Grandparents!
Frequent Motivation
Instead of writing an entire book before anyone sees it, Memoirs are made up of short stories about a single memory or reflection, shared immediately. Easier to create, consume, comment and like.
Ideas
We'll send you suggestions for stories, in case you're looking for ideas.