I pretty much never do ads on my blog (except for the amazing people on my sidebar who keep this site running and who you should totally visit) but about once a year I make an exception for a company I truly love and today that company is Storyworth, who I adore for many reasons including the fact that this little blog post will help fund the James Garfield Miracle which will probably happen on Monday. So read on, because just reading this means you’re helping kids have presents this holiday. EVERYONE WINS.
I super love Storyworth and if you’ve never heard of it before you owe me one because it’s honestly one of my favorite things. Here’s how it works:
You choose someone you love who you want to know more about…a parent, aunt, husband, old friend….and every week for a year Storyworth emails them a different question about their lives. (“If you were to do it over what would you do differently?” “Have you ever feared for your life?” “What things matter most to you?”) You get to see the questions first and can pick and choose which ones you think are the best and skip the ones you don’t like. Then they just email back their answers. Easy-peasy. At the end of the year Storyworth wraps up all the questions and answers into a beautiful hardback book of memories that quickly becomes a family heirloom. I did one for my mom and one for my dad and they were so perfect that I ended up buying extra copies for my sister and I because Storyworth uncovered stories we never knew or thought to ask. I only wish I’d done it while my grandparents were still alive because I would have loved to read their stories. (If yours are still alive go do this RIGHT NOW.)
It’s also wonderful because every time they answer a question you also get a copy of their emailed answers and it’s such a great way to continue conversations and stay in communication even when you can’t be together. Also? You know who else you could give it to? You. Because honestly the questions are amazing writing prompts and if you’re looking for inspiration and motivation in your own writing life this is quite good. I’ve actually used a few myself to remember stories that I might have forgotten otherwise.
And through the rest of this month you can get $10 off so that means all the story prompts emailed every week and compiled into a lovely hardcover book are yours for just $89. (And you can buy extra copies at the end if you like.) I cannot recommend it enough. If you’re interested just click here to find out more details and get started.
Happy holidays, y’all.
I bought this for my dad for Father’s Day, though I opted out of being emailed his answers. I ordered an extra copy of the book for myself – can’t wait to get it!
I tracked down the last post you did about Storyworth so I could order it as a Christmas gift a few days ago. If I’d waited I would have spent less time looking through your blog, but honestly that’s a win-win anyway. I’m looking forward to how this goes this year. Thanks, Jenny.
I love you, but do you mean “whom I adore?”
Jenny you mentioned this site before and I went for it. We just completed a book about my father-in-law’s life. He doesn’t do computers, so we had the questions sent to us and then my husband asked him the questions and we emailed the answers back to Storyworth. We gave the book to him for his 94th birthday, this past Oct. He loved it. Sat up reading it until midnight and this was a book about his life, that he told us the stories of. He thinks it is the best thing ever. Of course, all of his children (my husband’s siblings) wanted one too. His grandchildren (now in their 20-30’s) thought the stories were cool as well and had no idea about some of the stories. This was truly a WIN, WIN for all. Thank you Jenny for mentioning this site in your past blogs.
Recommend! My sister and I used a previous blog discount to give this to our mom. You are also able to add photos to the stories! My one regret is that we did not spend time really editing the questions so some of her responses repeat a bit. Otherwise very cool keepsake. https://possumscatsthingsgnawingatme.wordpress.com/2021/12/11/target-told-me/
I couldn’t agree more with the recommendation. I did this with my mom and got some great stories to pass on. We added plenty of photographs and the finished book is just beautiful. I just wish I could have done the same for my dad
I love the idea and would love the final product! But can I ask, is the completion of these not a burden to the recepients?
Amazing idea! About to order two and then spent the year impatiently waiting (and possibly nagging) for the result!
My husband did a 2-volume set of memories, I’ve extended my subscription annually to keep writing and adding photographs. I also did one that was customized; instead of answering questions I documented the year 2020 for the man who faithfully delivered our groceries every week. I presented it to our hero as a thank you gift the week we were able to return to the store fully vaccinated.
We did this for my mom a few years ago and bought 4 extra copies. When she passed in October, we had them at the funeral home, everyone loved it!
This is a great idea…
Did this with my parents a few years ago because of your post. They LOVED it and so did we. Not expensive to get extra copies of the books for each family.
We’re planning on doing this for mother’s and father’s day this year when our parents all become grandparents for the first time. I am so excited to collect all the memories and only wish my grandfather was around for it.
I did this for my mom last year on your recommendation and she loved it. She really enjoyed thinking back to answer the questions and looking through old photos to add. She’s really happy with her book. I SO wish I’d been able to do it for my dad. My husband ordered it for both of his parents as well.
I am gifting one to my mom and dad for Christmas. My dad is always hard to shop for, and I can already hear him now… “You gave me homework for Christmas???” Ha!
Thanks to you, I bought Storyworth for my mom the year before she died. She didn’t answer all the questions, but I was able to be the recipient of a few great stories. I purchased books for my siblings and myself. I’m so very grateful.
we did this a year or two ago for my folks. We only ordered one copy of each and pass them around the family. It’s kind of fun that way. In my dad’s book people have began making notes and comments in the margins. It’s become a living thing and is quite fun to see how different people remember the same events differently.
My siblings and I gave this to our parents a couple of years ago. We have all loved it, and we learned some new stories! It’s a lovely gift.
I just bought this 3 days ago as a gift for my mom! I am super excited about it!
My kids have two great-grandparents still alive: their mom’s mom’s mom and their dad’s dad’s dad. I gave both of them a StoryWorth subscription a few years ago.
My grandma was almost 80. She had fun writing her memories each week, and her voice comes through clearly. She asked me to proofread her book and make sure the punctuation and spelling were right before it was printed. StoryWorth made it easy for me to log in and do that for her.
My husband’s grandpa is almost 100, and his experience was very different. He didn’t have email, so the questions went to his daughter, who lives nearby. She asked him the questions, and then paraphrased his answers. His book wasn’t in his own words with all his details and tangents, so it wasn’t as much fun to read, but I know he and his daughter really enjoyed their story time each week. StoryWorth gave them something to bond over, even if the rest of us only heard about it second hand.
StoryWorth does offer the option of transcription, so you can answer the question over the phone and have someone else write it down. Unfortunately, grandpa doesn’t hear well and can’t use the phone. If you have a storyteller like him who needs help getting the question and writing the story, I highly recommend a video or audio recording of the story that you or someone else can transcribe later to make sure the story is in their own words. This also works for people who feel like typing the answer to a question every week is homework!
In both our families, everyone loved the resulting books and found stories they had never heard before, because no one ever thought to ask that specific question. We will probably do another round of StoryWorth for our parents in a few years. Totally recommended!
I’m one of the bloggess people on the side. It’s the most I could hope for.
I bought one of these for my dad because he tells the BEST stories, but every time he got an email he just answered it in a sentence or two. Like “How did you rebel as a child?” and his answer was, “Me, rebel? Never!” And it cracks me up because this is just the kind of thing he’d do — he prefers to tell his stories when we’re all together having a drink. So now we bring it out when we’re together and he uses the blank space to write in a story for us.
I think this books are a good holiday gift to my parents and relatives.
This is such a great idea. I wish I had known about this before my dad died 4 years ago. He had all kinds of stories.
We did something similar for my parents at a different site called handwrittenlegacies.com I answered some questions and they emailed me a printable pdf book. It was was a much more affordable version of this. They also give a form to get copies made at a print shop so we had about 10 copies made after it was filled out.