Is Your Family Photo Collection Dying a Slow Death?
Ever since the introduction of the Kodak Box camera in 1888, billions of paper photos have been taken. What ever happened to them all?Photos not already lost are in an active state of deterioration, eventually headed for the trash heap unless we act now rather than...
Achieving “Favorite Child” status
It turns out that nearly half of moms Regift, Return or Throw Away their Mother's Day Presents. According to a May 11, 2017 article in AdWeek "Of the 48 percent of moms who admitted to deep-sixing their presents, 15 percent re gifted them, 12 percent returned them,...
How well do you know your parents?
Maybe not as well as you think.“Do you know where your children are” was a popular public service announcement (PSA) that ran back in the late 1960s when there were youth curfews all across the country. Those children, now aging baby boomers, may need watching again,...
Memory Support
Memory Support Our Stories Are Us offers recently diagnosed individuals exhibiting signs of dementia and their families an opportunity to connect in a structured, meaningful, loving and caring way.Humans connecting with humans is the underlying value proposition of...
A Lesson of Regret
Questions that don't get asked, don't get answered. One of my greatest regrets was not having spent the time with Mom and Dad exploring their life experiences. My siblings and I were very fortunate that Mom and Dad anticipated us eventually having questions about...
An End of Life Lesson: Why was Dad in the Psych Ward
My dad and I were saying goodbye, knowing this would be the last time we would ever see each other. While in an embrace, a hospital employee was tugging at his arm trying to get him into a scheduled session with other patients on the floor. There apparently was a...
The Declining Value of Age: People and Antiques
Daniel Stein Antiques, San Francisco, photography by Ken Bredemeier, https://www.ourstoriesareus.comHow are people like antiques? The value of antiques increase over time because they become more rare. A person’s value increases because he or she becomes wiser as a...
Understanding the Family Narrative
Breathe Life Into Your Family Tree How well do you know your family members? Why should you care? Studies have shown the benefit to children knowing the stories of their grandparents and feeling they are part of something much larger than themselves....
A “Write” of Passage: The Life Review
Someone in your family is approaching the latter stage of their life. Whether you are talking about it with them or not, looking back on one's life experiences is as natural as the very young anticipating future milestones. As we age, questions creep into our...
Acknowledge the Life of Someone You Love
Taking the time to acknowledge the life of a person is the greatest honor you can bestow on another human being. We all want to be remembered. We want to have made a difference in this life. As we age to the point where we begin to contemplate our own mortality, this...