The Johnson Family
A demonstration family, so you can see the idea. These names, photographs and memories are fictional examples.
Robert Johnson
Born 1942
Evelyn Johnson
Born 1945
Michael
Son
Denise
Daughter
Anthony
Son
Jasmine
Granddaughter
Little Ray
Great-grandson
Their memories
A memory doesn't have to be a photograph. It can be a recipe, a song, a voice, a place or a story.
Photograph · Thing · 20s
Dad's 1967 Mustang
Dad talked about this car for the rest of his life. He said he washed it almost every Saturday.
Michael remembers sitting on the fender while Robert dried the chrome with an old bath towel. Denise remembers being told not to eat in it, ever.
Recipe · Photograph · 30s
Mom's Sweet Potato Pie
Evelyn never wrote down the amount of nutmeg. She said your hand knows how much.
The card is written in Evelyn's mother's handwriting. Denise recorded her mother reading it out loud one Thanksgiving morning.
Song link · 20s
Their Song
Robert and Evelyn met at a dance in 1963. Nat King Cole was playing when he finally walked over.
The family looks the song up together on an authorized streaming service whenever everyone is in the same room. Evelyn still knows the words.
Photograph · Family story · Childhood
Christmas at Grandma's
Twenty-two people, one dining table, and a card table for the kids.
Anthony swears he graduated to the big table in 1979. Michael says it was 1981 and he has a photograph.
Place · Photograph · Childhood
The House on Maple Street
Three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a porch that held everybody.
The family drove past it in 2019. New paint, same porch railing.
Thing · Photograph · 50s
Daddy's Toolbox
Red, dented, and heavier than it looked. Every tool had its place.
Anthony photographed it before the garage was cleared out. That photograph is now the only picture of it that exists.
Written memory · Voice · 40s
Mom Singing in the Kitchen
You always knew what kind of day it was by what she was humming over the stove.
Jasmine recorded forty seconds of her grandmother humming while stirring a pot. Nobody planned it. It's the family's favorite recording.
Photographs · Story · 30s
The Beach Trip
Six hours in the car, one flat tire, and a week nobody ever forgot.
Denise still has sand in the pages of that album. She refuses to shake it out.
Photograph · Program · Memory · 40s
Sunday at Church
Second pew from the front, left side. Same seats for thirty years.
The family kept a church program from Easter 1974 with all the children's names printed inside.
Photograph · Family story · 20s
That Yellow Dress
Evelyn made it herself the summer before Michael was born.
There are exactly two photographs of it. In both of them she is laughing at whoever is holding the camera.
A life, by chapters
Nobody has to fill in every year. A timeline fills itself in slowly, as memories are added.
Childhood
2 memories
Teen Years
0 memories
20s
3 memories
30s
2 memories
40s
2 memories
50s
1 memories
60s
0 memories
70s
0 memories
80s+
0 memories
Add Something for Mom or Dad
Family contributions go only into that family's private space on their own device.
A daughter uploads an old wedding photograph. A grandson photographs Granddad's fishing rod. Someone records Grandma explaining her sweet potato pie. The next time they visit, it's waiting for them.
Add something nowConversation starters
Good for sitting beside somebody.
What did your mother cook better than anybody?
What was your father's favorite saying?
Who was your best friend when you were 16?
What did you do on Saturday mornings?
Who taught you to drive?
Where did you meet Mom?
What was your first job?
What did you buy with your first paycheck?
What did your neighborhood look like?
What did Christmas smell like in your house?
What song did everybody dance to?
What family story do you never want us to forget?