Ok hive mind – has anyone done a memory book through a service, where they send you questions (weekly?) and you end up with them collated into a book? Is there a service you recommend?
My D just gifted Storywoth (1 yr) to my H for Christmas.
2 Likes
This has been advertised on the radio on NPR a lot. I am hoping someone does it and can give a personal recommendation!
2 Likes
I gifted it to my parents for Xmas 2021. They got question prompts for a year, but have taken three years to complete them. We are finally ready to order books. My mom really enjoyed doing it, and I’m glad to have the memories put to paper.
4 Likes
My parents received Storyworth and couldn’t keep up with the prompts and didn’t want to answer the questions, some of which you might not want to commit to paper.
My brother gave us this as a gift and I was so relieved when it was finally over. The questions are endless and they badger you if you skip them. Then they want you to go back and add details, or photos. I think for some people it could be a lot of fun, but for us it was just a giant pain.
My family has something called Letter Loop and that has been much more fun. It’s pretty ephemeral, but the work is much less and the questions less prying.
1 Like
Ooh, I will look into it!
This is for me, now, in my 60’s, because I think this might be much harder if I were to wait until my 80’s.
On his own (well, actually, with his writing group) my Dad wrote a series of stories of his childhood, which I made into a photo book. It is, as the ad says, priceless.
1 Like
If it’s just for you, Storyworth is what you want. Letter Loop is for groups.
Part of our problem was the gift of Storyworth wasintended for my entire family (me, DH, kids) and the prompts are really meant for one person. If you are wanting to do this for yourself, as a project, then you ought to have no problem. The book itself it quite nice.
2 Likes
My daughter got Storyworth for me. I enjoyed the prompts and adding pictures, and it was nice thinking about and sharing stories for her, you could skip any prompts you wanted to. At the end, it includes 1 book for either you or the gifter. We both forgot about the hard copy, but eventually I sent the book to her. It’s a nice idea.
2 Likes
I haven’t heard of these services but am glad they exist as the books that both my mom and her mother (years before) put together for me are two of the things I would brave a fire to retrieve from my burning house, both in their own handwriting with photos and recipes. I especially treasure the book from grandma because, of all her grandchildren, she did this for only me, her first. She had a special name for me, and we had a special relationship. I miss her so much, but there she is!
(That’s my mother with the big bow in her hair seated next to her younger sister whose memorial we attended this summer. My great grandparents bottom left.)
I’m going to check into the services listed in this thread to begin a tome for our son.
Thanks again CC.
4 Likes
My cursory research says Memorygram is better than Storyworth, fyi.
1 Like
I gave my parents Storyworth 2 years ago. My mom wasn’t into it and didn’t answer anything. But my dad has been into it for a while now. We still haven’t made the book but he likes getting the questions and so I’ve kept up the subscription. He doesn’t answer every question, and sometimes a month or so will go by without answering anything. But then I’ll get 3-4 answers in a row. He says he percolates on them until a story comes to him or he figures out what he wants to write. And he likes the memory jog and I love reading them. I’m not sure we even care about the printed version, but I’m sure we will get to it eventually.
3 Likes
My sister got Storyworth for my dad last year. He said he would like to do it, but he never followed through. Last week when I was in Austin, I encouraged him to start, and he said he would. He sat in his chair all day. My sister asked him about it when she got to the apartment, and he said he was just “too busy” to do it but would in the future. So she didn’t continue the subscription this year. It’s a shame, because he has had such an interesting life.
I’m not sure if your dad would do it or find it easier, but when I was trying to encourage my mom to answer questions, I showed her how to hit a voice memo and told her she could record the story and I would transcribe it. She didn’t do that either, but maybe it might work for someone else.
2 Likes
That’s a cool option.
What is the cost of these things?
Storyworth was $89 for a one year subscription. I found the weekly question prompts were too much, so I adjusted them to biweekly fjr my mom, and monthly for my dad. IIRC the subscription cost includes one b&w print book or else $39 credit toward a color one.
SO many podcasts have Storyworth as a sponsor and there are likely codes out there for discounts.
My sibling bought books similar to these, for my parents to complete, when the first grandchildren were born. We also received a copy. My mom was much more descriptive in her answers than my dad, but I treasure both of them.
Grandmother Remembers 30th Anniversary Edition: A Written Heirloom for My Grandchild: Levy, Judith: 9781617690327: Amazon.com: Books
1 Like