The Memory-Savers
You are The Family Historian, The Sentimental Enthusiast or part of The Greatest Generation, and you've realized the importance of your family's memories.
Gambling with your family's legacy is not an option. You don't want to put off gathering all of your stories because "you'll have time later"—you don't want to take that risk.
You're ready to partner with me to help you bring your family's stories to life, so that you and your loved ones can start reminiscing and sharing together as soon as possible!
My Writing & Editing Background
After a two-page story assignment turned into an 18-chapter mystery novel in Grade 5, I realized (along with everyone I’d forced to read my story) that I loved words. My friends and family became my audience. Whether I'm creating my own stories, or acting as the voice for others in an article, I believe in the power of communication.
In keeping with my love of words, as the years passed, those same friends and family members sent me their essays and work projects to edit throughout high school, university and in their business dealings. I loved being able to put my English and Creative Writing Degrees to use.
Now, I am proud to say that I’m a published writer as well as an experienced developmental editor and copyeditor. I’m creative and precise, but never harsh or judgemental. Since I’m a writer, I understand that the writing process can be difficult and that at times it can feel like your creativity has temporarily disappeared. I enjoy helping my clients and their stories reach their full potential.
(Scroll down to read about how Rooted StoryAlbums began)
The Beginning Of Rooted StoryAlbums
"We age not by years, but by stories.”
-Maza Dohta
Papa reached out to hug me while blinking back tears. "How can I ever thank you?"
I'd just given my grandparents their StoryAlbum one Christmas, and those were the words that convinced me that preserving family stories was even more important than I'd realized. That was all the thanks and motivation I needed to turn what were originally gifts for my family, into gifts for other families who deserved to reminisce, preserve and share their family legacy stories together for generations to come. In that moment, I decided to take the leap to start Rooted StoryAlbums.
Rewind 10 years, shifting focus to my mom's side of the family, my grandpa was turning 80. I was 16 at the time, and for my gift, I wanted to write out his life story. Since technology hadn't caught up with my StoryAlbum vision, I used Microsoft Word and stapled all the pages together. Each section was only a short paragraph with corresponding photos (the clip art pages were anything but attractive). However, he loved it so much that he had it laminated. Then, he read it so often that the lamination started to peel off, so I turned it into a storybook for him.
Fast forward nine years, it was my grandma's turn to enter the 80’s. This time though, I was working on my English and Creative Writing degrees, received an achievement award from Western University, and had experience as a book editor under my belt, so I felt certain that I could improve upon my clipart version with longer story excerpts. Grandma loved her StoryAlbum so much that she took it out with her to coffee dates with her friends to show it off. Her book eventually became the model for my Highlight Reel Package.
"What? How did we not know that about you?!"
Ten years later, on Christmas Day, our family gathered around the Christmas tree.
"Nana, Papa this one is for you," I said as I handed them the bright red gift.
"Oh, this is exciting!" Papa joked once he realized everyone was watching them. As soon as Nana opened the box, she covered her face with her hands and started to cry. She thought it was just a photo album; she hadn't even opened the front cover yet!
Everyone took turns reading a story chapter out loud to the family. The youngest grandkids lit up as they slowly learned that their grandparents had lived really exciting lives. It was also mind-boggling to them that Nana and Papa hadn't even had televisions.
Inevitably, someone would interrupt the readings with:
"Remember how we used to..."
"Oh man! I'd almost forgotten about that!"
However, the most interesting part for me was when someone would burst out with, "What? How did we not know that about you?"
My family is pretty close, yet there were many stories that we'd never heard before. When I asked them why we'd never heard that Papa's house had been bombed during the war, they said that they just didn't think we'd be interested to hear about it.
How many more stories would they have kept to themselves if I hadn't written their StoryAlbum?
Are you ready to save your memories and gather everyone around to reminisce and discover new things about your family?