Family reunions and family history
Every family has stories. Not everybody remembers them the same way.
Your grandmother tells it one way. Your uncle swears it happened in a different year, in a different car. Ask all of them, and keep every version.
Family stories live in the oldest heads and the newest ones.
Every family has a handful of stories that come out whenever everyone is in one room. They are told a little differently each time, and they only ever exist out loud. One day the person who told them best is not there to tell them.
A reunion is the rare moment when every generation is together. The oldest remember what the youngest have never heard. The youngest notice things the oldest stopped seeing years ago. Asking all of them, in their own words, is how a family's history actually gets kept.
And when two people remember it differently, that is not a mistake to fix. That is the family.
An illustration with the characters of The Hangover, an affectionate parody not affiliated with Warner Bros
The old photographs, and the one that was missing.
Sunday at the Garners
The Garner family home, California · A Sunday in early autumn · 5 people · 12 memories
The old photographs · 3 memories
- Tracydaughter, arrived with dessert
that picture of Dad
Mom brought out a box of photographs nobody had seen in years. There was one of Dad younger than I am now, leaning on a car and looking very pleased with himself. Alan wanted to know the car model. Doug wanted to know whether Dad had always dressed like that. I just sat there thinking how little we ever imagine our parents having whole lives before us. Dad got quiet for a minute, then started telling a story about a road trip. I don't remember the road trip story very well. I remember him being happy to tell it.
- Alanson, appointed himself photographer
the missing photograph
There was a picture I remembered that wasn't in the box. Me and Tracy on the back steps with a hose, when we were small. I asked Mom where it went. She said she didn't know. I looked through everything again and couldn't find it. Then Dad went into his desk and came back with it in a frame. He had been keeping it where he could see it. I didn't know that. I took a photograph of the photograph because I wanted one too. It came out with a reflection, but you can still see us.
- Sidhost, in charge of the barbecue
nothing was missing
Alan got worried about a photograph that wasn't in the family box. I had it on my desk, where it's been for years. It shows two very wet children, a garden hose and what I believe was the destruction of an afternoon's gardening. I'd forgotten it wasn't in the box. When I brought it out Alan looked relieved, as if we'd found something valuable in an attic. Which, come to think of it, we had. I gave him a copy afterward. I kept the original because I like it where it is.
Add your version. What do you remember that the others might not?
Alan thought a photograph had been lost. His dad had kept it on his desk for years. It takes both their memories to see what that afternoon meant.
How it works
Free to collect. Free to read. No accounts for anyone you invite.
- 1
Start a collection
Give it a name and say who or what it is about. It takes a minute and it is free.
- 2
Send the link
Share it however your group already talks: WhatsApp, a text, an email, or a QR code on the table.
- 3
Everyone adds what they remember
Written down, or simply spoken aloud and written up for them. Photos too. Nobody needs an account; a name is enough.
- 4
Read it together
Every memory, in each person's own words, kept privately for you and whoever you choose to share it with. Collecting and reading is always free.
Questions that help
You don't have to start with a blank page.
Ask a family for "memories" and you get silence. Ask which version of the story they believe and you will not be able to stop them.
- What's a family story you've heard told more than once?
- Which version of it do you believe?
- What did this reunion remind you of from years ago?
- Who surprised you this time?
- What's the first thing you remember?
- Was there a moment nobody else noticed?
- What would you never want to forget?
Every question is optional. Anyone can skip straight to writing, or talking.
Questions people ask
Can older relatives take part if they don't use email?
Yes. The link opens in any phone's browser and there is nothing to sign up for. They can speak a memory rather than type it, or someone can sit beside them and add it for them.
What if people remember things differently?
Good. Every account is kept in the person's own words, and the finished story says plainly where memories differ rather than picking a winner.
Is it only for an actual reunion?
No. It works just as well for a grandparent's house, a family business, or simply the stories that get told every Christmas.
Does it cost anything?
No. Starting a collection, adding memories and reading them is free for everybody.
Who can see what people write?
Only the people you invite. Every collection is private when it is created, nothing is listed publicly or shown to search engines, and you decide whether contributors can read each other's memories.
Is the finished story written by AI?
Yes, and it is held to what people actually said. It works only from the memories you include, quotes people in their own words, and says so plainly where two people remember something differently. It does not invent events, dialogue or feelings. The original memories are always kept underneath, and you can edit anything before it is shared.
Ask them before the stories are lost.
Start a collection for your family, send the link to every branch of it, and keep each version.