As a parent, I think of things I never would have thought of before. I know you parents know what I mean. One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is documenting stories… memories for my son.
His Dad and I won’t be around forever, and it’s important that he has information, stories, photos, etc. of us and his grandparents. That’s where Saving Memories Forever comes in.
Saving Memories Forever lets you record and share family stories –your family history, save them, and share them with others. How awesome is that?
I’ve just begun really using the app and website, and already in love with it! I’m sharing some stories from when I was in high school and when and where I was born. I’ve also shared a funny story about something hilarious my son asked us once. It will embarrass my son one day… and then there will come a day when he will share it with his child(ren) and laugh about it. Maybe.
I’m sure he will. It’s a fun memory that I don’t want to ever get lost. Now I can save this memory forever.
Using Saving Memories Forever is so simple. Very user-friendly. They explain everything completely and easily. There’s a wonderful how-to video on savingmemoriesforever.com that even those who consider themselves tech-illiterate, would find easy to follow. As well as helpful tips, so you can get the most out of your story telling.
After I downloaded the app onto my iPhone (it’s available to Android users, too), I registered — you can register online at savingsmeoriesforever.com (click the sign up button on the top right) or on your smartphone. Easy!
You add “storytellers” – this can be yourself, your parents, grandparents, or anyone that has a memory or story to share. Right now I have myself, my husband, and my son. Yes, I want my son to be able to share memories now, so that when he is an adult, he can he his young self talk about his best friend when he was 10, or how much he loves his dog, Coco.
I will be adding my parents and my in-laws on soon, so they can share stories with us.
You can also add photos, I’m adding photos of the storytellers as I add them. And something I find extremely useful is the ability to tag your stories. By tagging each story with descriptive words that will help me find a particular story quickly and easily is nice. This way if I want to find a story from my husband about when he built a rocket, I can search the word, “rocket” and/or his name, and the story will come up.
I also love that they provide categories and prompts. Questions to jog your memory. As you can see in the images below the kinds of questions you can ask. These questions may help trigger other question ideas.
My parents don’t live near us, so I’m going to record them through Skype, until we get to visit them this summer. So even if you can’t interview someone in person, you can record them over the phone or Skype.
I wish there was a Saving Memories Forever when my grandparents were alive. I would love to hear my grandpa and grandma’s voices sharing their memories to me, right now. But I can create a “virtual relative” by sharing my memories of my grandparents for my son.
You can also download all the stories you have recorded on Saving Memories Forever to a zip file. This feature is the last item on the My Account screen, titled export files.
I highly recommend the Saving Memories Forever website and app (they work in conjunction with each other) for anyone who wants to preserve family memories. I am excited about using SMF with our genealogy. What a great way to bring a family tree to life!
NOTE: They are offering their premium subscription free of charge to active duty military personnel. Saving Memories Forever thought it would be nice for those posted overseas to be able to record bedtime stories for their kids for their spouse to play them at home each night. This ability to time shift audio allows our military personnel to create a closer bond with their children and spouses even when they are overseas.
Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of AdvertiseWithBloggers.com for Saving Memories Forever. A free trial and promotional items have been provided in exchange for my review. Regardless all opinions are my own.
What a cool app! I’ll have to download it and give it a try. I used to make scrapbooks but since I started the blog I haven’t had time. This would be a great way to preserve my memories!
That is neat! I try hard to keep things for my son that he will want someday but recordings would be neat too!
This is so cool. I would love to have my uncle tell stories of my grandparents.
Oh this is so awesome! I had some recordings of my son on my old phone and when I upgraded it we lost them all…I still want to cry when I think about it. This would have been a much better way to record his little baby voice.
Love this concept!
That is so cool! How neat for our children to have those wonderful stories recorded in the voice that always told them.
This is a cool app! Im deaf…. maybe a video of me signing would do.
That’s really cool. I’m constantly amazed by the things those little iPhones can do!
This is nice. I am trying to learn how to use iphones.
What wonderful ways to save things! Thanks for the tutorial.
Donna
What wonderful ways to save things! Thanks for the tutorial.
Donna
I really like this. I’m the historian in our family and this will be very helpful to keep track of things. With every generation, stories get lost.
Sarah, yes, historians and genealogists would LOVE this app/program!
Very cool how we can work around it if we don’t have a smartphone or tablet and still use it. And I am still wishing for the flying cars…maybe someday your dad’s dream will come true! 🙂