The Christmas everyone is finally in the same room
A MemoriesBox gift records a grandparent's life story in their own voice. Three months is $39 and twelve months $139, delivered by email. Ask on Christmas Day if you like, but record on the 27th, when the house is quiet.
Facts on this page verified
Why this one lands
Once a year, four generations are in one house at the same time, with nowhere to be. Somebody's grandmother is in the good chair. Somebody's children are on the floor. It is the only day of the year when the entire cast of the family story is physically assembled, and it lasts about six hours.
53% of Americans cannot name all four of their grandparents, and 51% say what they want most is stories about what their ancestors were like when they were young (OnePoll for Ancestry, March 2022, n=2,113). Both of those are decided in rooms like that one, by whether anyone asks.
What usually happens instead is that somebody nearly asks, the food arrives, and the moment closes. Next year the chair is the same and the person in it is a year older.
Do not record on Christmas Day
This is the useful part of this page and it costs nothing.
Christmas Day is a terrible recording environment. There are eleven people talking, a television on in another room, a dog, and a schedule. Your grandfather will be interrupted four times in ten minutes, and he will be aware that everyone can hear him, which is the surest way to get the short version of every story.
Christmas Day is, however, an excellent day to ask. Hand over the card. Say what it is for. Then put a date in the diary for two days later.
| Day | What it is good for | What it is bad for |
|---|---|---|
| 24–25 December | Handing over the card. Asking. Agreeing a time | Recording anything |
| 26–28 December | The first real session. The house has emptied, nobody has anywhere to be | Nothing much |
| The days between Christmas and New Year | Photographs on the table, the second session, the relatives who are still around | Long sessions after a long lunch |
| Early January | The rhythm that carries the rest of the year | Assuming it will happen without a date |
The single most common failure is not refusal. It is one good session in December followed by nothing until the next December. A repeating date, fortnightly, forty minutes, is what makes the difference, and it is free.
To use the day itself well without recording, going through old photographs together is the version that works in a crowded room, because an object gives four people something to talk around.
What they actually receive
On the day: a card or an email with a code on it. Nothing else physical. There is no box and nothing to unwrap unless you print the card yourself or wrap it with a photograph, and it is worth knowing that before Christmas morning rather than during it.
In the first week: someone sets up an account. About ten minutes, and it should be you. The most reliable way for a gift like this to go unused is for the setup to land on the person who was supposed to be receiving a present. Then the first session: one question, asked out loud, and a follow-up based on what they just said rather than the next line of a list. Twenty minutes is normal.
The fear worth naming: that a gift about recording their life will be heard as a statement about how much of it is left. In a room full of grandchildren this is easier to avoid than at any other time of year, because the answer is standing right there. "The children should have this from you, not from me getting it wrong." That is a sentence about the future.
Nothing is compulsory either. No schedule, no streak, no progress bar, no reminder emails, because we do not send re-engagement notifications. They can refuse any question, delete anything, and decide who is ever allowed to hear it. The page written for them explains that in their terms, and it is a fair thing to send along with the card.
What it costs
| Gift | Price |
|---|---|
| 3 months | $39 |
| 6 months | $78 |
| 12 months | $139 |
| Lifetime | $659 |
| VIP Setup, if you would like someone to sit with them and start it off | $299 one-time |
| Printed book, later | From $139 |
Twelve months at $139 is the usual choice, because this is a thing done in short sessions across a year. If several of you are giving it together, the lifetime gift at $659 divides more comfortably between four siblings than a subscription somebody has to remember to renew.
A voice model can be built once about 30 minutes of recordings exist. That is usually the first or second session, which means a Christmas gift generally has a voice kept by the middle of January.
If they won't use a phone or a computer
Some grandparents have a phone that makes calls and no interest in anything beyond it.
We are building a device for that: a box that speaks a question aloud in the room and records the answer, with no phone, no app and no account. It is $79 one-time and it ships in 2027. It is therefore not a Christmas present this year, and we are not going to put it under a tree by implying otherwise.
For this Christmas, the honest options are VIP Setup at $299 one-time, recording ordinary phone calls yourself for nothing, or one of the phone-call services from another company. For a parent who doesn't use a smartphone compares what each service in this category actually requires of the person being recorded, including where a competitor is better than us today.
When to order
| What you want | Lead time |
|---|---|
| Gift subscription by email | Immediate. It can be bought on Christmas Eve |
| A printable card to put in an envelope | Immediate |
| VIP Setup arranged for the holiday period | Two to three weeks. December books up |
| A printed book of an archive that already exists | Weeks. Order in November |
| A printed book of an archive that does not exist yet | Not possible for this Christmas. The recording has to happen first |
That last row is the one to be clear about. If the recordings do not exist yet, a printed book is next Christmas's present, not this one. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you a book with nothing in it.
Questions people ask
Is a recorded life story a good Christmas present for grandparents who have everything?
It is one of the few things they cannot already own, and they will not buy it for themselves. The caveat is that it needs someone in the family to do the setup and sit in for the first session, so it works best when the person giving it is willing to be the person asking.
Can I buy this on Christmas Eve?
Yes. It is delivered by email and there is nothing to ship. Print the card, or write the code inside a real one.
What if they open it and look confused?
Expect that, because what they have opened is a card. Say what it is in one sentence, say when the first session will be, and then do it two days later. The confusion is about the format, not the idea.
We are four siblings. Can we all give it together?
Yes. One person holds the account and the others can ask questions and add material from wherever they live. The lifetime gift at $659 is the version that splits neatly.
Where does everything end up, and can we take it out?
In the European Union, and yes, at any time, in open formats, without an active subscription. Where your recordings actually live names the country, the provider and the sub-processors, which very few services in this category will do.
Related: A Mother's Day gift she can leave behind · A Father's Day gift in his own voice · Questions to ask your grandmother · All occasions
When you have decided, give MemoriesBox as a gift. From $39.