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WistMemEveryday life, remembered.
WistMem Family Stories

Keep the story.
Keep a little of them.

One day, a photograph may make you wonder what they were laughing about.

Today, that question could become a conversation.

Start with one memory A few quiet minutes. No perfect words needed.
An older mother and her adult daughter sharing a quiet conversation over tea at a kitchen table.
The ordinary afternoon can become the memory.Illustrated scene created for WistMem; people are fictional.
01 / The things that bring them back

The cup they always used.
The song they sang wrong.
The way they said your name.

We remember people in small things. A recipe with no measurements. A coat by the door. A story that began the same way every time, and somehow never got old.

They may seem ordinary while we are living them. Later, they can feel like a way home.

An older father and an adult child looking at an old photograph beside an open notebook.
A photograph keeps a face. A conversation keeps the story around it.Illustrated scene created for WistMem; people are fictional.
02 / There is more to the photograph

You know them as
Mom and Dad.
Who were they before?

Someone had a first best friend. A job they were nervous to begin. A dream they changed their mind about.

Ask about the room they grew up in. The person who believed in them. The afternoon they wish they could visit again.

You may hear a story you have never heard, in a voice you have known all your life.

03 / Something to carry forward

Let the next person know
more than their name.

Not only when they were born, or what they did for work. What made them laugh. Who they missed. How an ordinary day felt to them.

A few words in their handwriting. A recipe with its story. A memory told in their own way.

Something your family can return to.
Something you can tell again.

04 / Begin while the tea is still warm

You do not have to
save a whole life today.

Just make room for one story.

  1. Choose a small question.Start with a place, a person, or a familiar photograph.
  2. Let the answer wander.Listen. Ask “What happened next?” They can skip anything they prefer to keep private.
  3. Keep a little of their voice.Write down a phrase exactly as they said it. Ask before recording, and let them choose who may hear or read it.
Take the first story home

A little space
for their words.

Download One Story to Keep, a free eight-page booklet with gentle questions, room to write, and a page for the story behind a photograph.

Print a few pages, sit together, and begin wherever the memory takes you. You can also write from your own memories of someone.

Download A4 PDF Download US Letter PDF

English · 8 pages · PDF, about 145 KB each
Free to download. No email or purchase needed. Print at 100%.

Ready to keep more of the story? Find a place for the next chapter in a printed journal.

Buy Mom’s Journal on Amazon (opens in a new tab)Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Buy Dad’s Journal on Amazon (opens in a new tab)Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

If asking them is no longer possible.

You can still begin with what you remember. Write down a saying, describe a photograph, or invite someone who knew them to share a story. It is all right to leave gaps. There is no right time, and no need to write more than feels comfortable.

A place for the next story, too

For the words you want
to keep coming back to.

The Mom and Dad journals offer 96 questions across 12 chapters, with room for handwriting, recipes, photographs, and the stories that need another page.

160 pages · 7 × 10 inches · Paperback and hardcover · English
See each journal for current Amazon ordering availability.

One question is a beginning

Next time you sit together,
ask for the story.

Find a question to begin

The first thing to keep is a little time for each other.

Buy Mom’s Journal on Amazon (opens in a new tab)Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Buy Dad’s Journal on Amazon (opens in a new tab)Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.