If we lose a loved one, what we want more than anything is to hear their voice tell their story. Luckily, the majority of people want to record their story for future generations – but it’s not a simple task. Memory Lane makes it easy to document your life and preserve your story for those who would give anything to listen.
Research shows that following the death of a parent, children look for any way to feel connected to their memory. One of the most common ways that this manifests is in listening to old voicemails or rewatching videos of loved ones speaking. We cherish any semblance of connection we can find, and nothing soothes us more than hearing the voices and stories we grew up listening to.
We look to our parents for all kinds of life advice, and find equal amounts of solace in hearing both joyful stories and tales of difficult times. We want to hear how our parents dealt with heartbreak, and financial struggles; how they coped with their own grief, and what advice they have for raising children. We want to hear that they made mistakes, and fell in love, and how they got through it all.
81% of Americans want to write a book; 62% aspire to write their own memoir.
Aside from advice, research has suggested that children also have very specific questions for their parents; what is the soup recipe that reminds me of childhood? What is the story behind your middle name? How did my grandparents meet? There isn’t enough time for children to ask their parents every question they want to know, and most aspirations to record a life story, or even to keep a consistent diary, go unfulfilled. 81% of Americans want to write a book one day, and 62% aspire to write their own memoir. However, only 6% of people get more than halfway through. What’s holding them back?
Writing your life story takes time, commitment, and motivation; you need to be reminded that someone, some day, will want more than anything in the world to listen to you. It’s also a daunting process – you may wonder if your writing is good enough. What if your spelling is incorrect, or you ramble, or your stories don’t have a perfectly clean beginning, middle, and end?
Luckily, studies show that the personal matters more than the narrative; people don’t want to hear that their parents were perfect, they want to see them as they are – as the human beings they know and love. They want to hear your natural voice, your stutters and mistakes, your pauses and your laughs. The urge to be a perfect writer can stop you from ever telling your story, but with Memory Lane taking care of the writing, you’re free to tell your story however you wish.
With Memory Lane, you can record your stories at your own pace just by speaking them aloud, letting the conversation flow naturally and giving your loved ones the gift of hearing your voice. We transcribe your speech and summarize your story, giving each one a title that you can edit to your liking. Your memories are searchable, so you can easily find a moment you want to revisit, or add more detail to your stories later on.
The nostalgic journey is yours to take.
Memory Lane prompts you with interesting questions so you don’t need to worry about what your next story will be: you can take any path you choose on your walk down memory lane. The nostalgic journey is yours to take, so just answer whatever intrigues you on a given day. Your listeners can chime in with their own questions, too, if your story inspires them.
Some stories are not for everyone, however, so you can choose who listens to which memories – or keep it to yourself until you’re ready to share. If you know what you’d like to say, but don’t want it to be heard just yet, you can create a story time capsule to be heard at a future date. What would you love your granddaughter to hear on her wedding day? Or the day she becomes a mother? We’ll take care of these stories so they’re told when your loved ones are ready to hear them.
If you’re a member of the majority of Americans who want to create their own book one day, Memory Lane was made to help. By answering fun, thoughtful questions about your life every week, pretty soon you can have enough memories recorded for us to create a memoir worthy of your life story. We’ll do the hard work to generate the first draft, which you have the freedom to edit or pass on as is – either way, you’ll be able to give your family something they’ll cherish forever, which will be read for generations to come.
Your story is in your hands; we will prompt you along the way, but ultimately, your story is yours to take home and cherish forever.