“Take one hard season and tell it whole: how it started, how it felt, and how you came through it together.”

Why this question

Families who tell their stories this way — good times and hard times, and we got through them together — give their children something to stand on.

Capturing it in voice

• ·Record it on an ordinary day — the background noise of your kitchen is part of the keepsake.
• ·If they're old enough, hand them the phone and let them answer it themselves. Their phrasing is the treasure; don't tidy it.
• ·Don't script it. The ums, the tangents, the half-finished sentences — that's what their voice actually sounds like right now.

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