You don’t lose people all at once. You lose their stories first. The little details, the tone of their voice, the way they explain something that suddenly makes your entire family dynamic make sense. That part fades quietly… especially as elder care and stress pile up. And then one day, you realize you never actually asked the questions that would’ve kept it all alive.
I’ve been sitting with that for a while, and it turned into something simple: what if we just started recording stories more when we can and not putting it off until it’s print-ready? Not in a stiff, documentary way, but in a real conversation way. The kind where people relax, forget they’re being recorded, and start telling the stories that usually only come out halfway through a long dinner or a random memory spiral. That’s where the good stuff lives.
So that’s what I’ve begun doing. My team and I are collabing on a special project from the heart. It’s been free and plans to be- but we have paid options to fund more we want to do for those who can contribute, but the bulk of what we do is FREE interviews and FREE resources for you to interview yourself or your grandparents.
We’re sitting down with grandparents (or honestly anyone with a life story worth keeping), having real conversations, and recording them so families actually have something to hold onto. Not just “they were born here and worked there,” obituary style- but how they thought, what they felt, what they chose, what they wish they did differently, and what they still stand by. In their own words and if they’re willing, on camera so you can watch them tell the stories.
You get the full recording back in a Google Drive folder you can keep forever, download, duplicate, send to your siblings, your kids, or just keep tucked away for later. If you want to do more with it, we can help with that too—flash drives, edited clips, gifts for family—but that’s not the point of this. The point is that the story exists somewhere outside of memory. Now wait- the quality of the recording does rest in how good your phone, computer camera or microphone are - but today that is such a minor problem compared to years prior, I don’t want to wait any further. We also have created resources to help with tech setup to join our link to call or to walk a helper through sitting with a grandparent while they’re interviewing. I’ve tried to think of it all, and the team has backed me up with cool ideas we’ll be unleashing soon also.
I’ll just say this part plainly, because I don’t do weird fine print energy. We’re offering a limited number of these sessions for free each month because we’re building something bigger long-term—a YouTube channel and archive of real stories—and we need real conversations to do that... but we also do not want anyone to NOT tell their story because it costs, or because they don’t have someone to interview them, or because they’re nervous. So if you’re open to letting us use a few short, tasteful clips from your interview as reels or snippets, that’s how you qualify for the free sessions. Nothing exploitative, nothing out of context, just moments that help other people realize, “oh… I should probably do this too.” If you’re not into being shared, that’s completely fine; there will just be paid options for interviews you can use for your own purposes.
Do you want audio/video or just audio? We got you.
Do you just want to show up and talk? Good… we got this figured out.
Do you just want to show up, talk, and then not do anything but watch it after— good, we got this set up figured out.
If you’re reading this, thinking you should do it yourself, you absolutely can. We do NOT need to be involved in every single story told on the planet. Can’t be actually… and really, you don’t need fancy equipment or a whole setup. A phone, a quiet room, and the right questions will take you further than you think. We put together two question lists you can use—one that focuses on big life and era-based memories, and one that gets into personal and family stories. The kind of questions that actually get people talking, not just answering.
What’s interesting is what happens when people feel like someone is genuinely listening. You start hearing stories you’ve never heard before. You start connecting dots you didn’t even know were there. Things that once felt random or confusing suddenly make sense. It’s less about documenting the past and more about understanding it.
If this has been sitting in the back of your mind for a while, as it has mine, consider this your nudge. You can subscribe here on Substack to follow along as I roll this out and launch the YouTube channel, or just drop a comment if you want us to interview you or someone in your family. We’ll be adding a simple form soon to claim the free sessions, but for now, that’s the easiest way to raise your hand.
No pressure, no rush. Just… don’t wait forever.
Questions About The Times & World:
Questions About Family & Personal Stories:
Get Questions About FamilyTopics
Note: We have had parents record sessions for their upcoming grandchildren… We’ve had grandparents of greats record because the greats are growing up… We’ve had new parents record because they want to remember these moments now for their grandchildren later… There’s no set rules for this project, we just have two goals:
Remember our history from those who lived it
Remember our family stories before they are lost forever
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.