StoryKeeping interviews your loved ones and produces timeless audio and video keepsakes to create a living legacy. StoryKeeping gives you peace of mind, because no matter what tomorrow brings, you’ll always be able to hear their side of the story, in first person, forever. It’s never too early to start, so start now. We look forward to helping you capture the highlights of your loved one’s lives.
Give the gift of everlasting life to the highlights of a lifetime this holiday season!
It’s too late to go through the StoryKeeping process this year, but you can still let your family know how much you love them by handing out StoryKeeping Gift DVDs. StoryKeeping has created a DVD that, when popped into the DVD player, will tell your family about how you’ve booked a StoryKeeping session for them that will capture the highlights of their lives. The video explains the process, what to expect, and reinforces how special a StoryKeeping session can be for a family.
If you’d like a StoryKeeping Gift DVD, just email info@StoryKeeping.com with “Gift DVD” in the subject line and let us know whether you’d like us to interview an individual, couple, an entire family, or the end-goal of the project. StoryKeeping will give you a quote, require a deposit of half the total, create a customized Gift DVD and get it mailed to you in time for your gift exchange. The remainder of the balance is due the date of the interview or event. Splitting the payment over time makes this Gift DVD an even more-appealing gift option.
Ultimately, your decision to give your loved ones a StoryKeeping session will be remembered as one of the most loving and lasting gifts ever given. StoryKeeping is looking forward to helping you set the gift-bar high while capturing the highlights of a lifetime for your family!
Scenic Wedding
Doing what I do you have to know I love a good story, so when I’m given the opportunity to play a role in something extraordinary I find it really difficult to say “No” regardless of circumstances. Of course extraordinary is subjective, so when I told a few friends about my plans to cover this wedding I got mixed reviews. Some thought I was nuts.
My friend Andi had recommended my StoryKeeping services to a family friend of hers out in Sonora, TX, and the mother of the bride ended up sending me an email to discuss doing a wedding. I was pretty much elated when I discovered the wedding was going to be held on a Thursday. Middle of the week work? I can pretend I have a normal schedule?! Awesome! I love my weekends just the same as everyone else.
“Do you drive a truck?” Read the rest of this entry »
When I woke up that morning the world was still asleep. It was the perfect start to a day dedicated to reflecting. It was Thursday, February 10, 2011, on the tail end of the “Snowpocalypse” that terrorized South Texans not accustomed to snow or ice. As I left the house around 4am, the frozen grass crunched under my feet. As my truck eased over the 410 & I-35 overpass, my headlights revealed patches of ice. The silent seclusion of the morning set a heck of a tone for the day, and the majority of my 5-hour drive up to Lufkin, TX took place earlier than I was comfortable calling most of my friends. So I time traveled through Texas towns in solitude, recalling my own past as I prepared to capture the highlights of a lifetime for a stranger, Charlie Kimble.
StoryKeeping does weddings!
You can now take advantage of StoryKeeping’s ability to capture the highlights of a lifetime on your wedding day. StoryKeeping uses their expertise in one-on-one interviews to tell more of the story of your relationship than your traditional wedding videographer. All the details leading up to your special day are just as important as the vows you make, because every one of those moments have laid the foundation for your shared life of love and happiness. The moment you first met, your first date, the anxiety of meeting the rest of the family, and the story of your engagement are just some of the details StoryKeeping believes should be captured forever.
The room was in shock. The silverware had ceased to clink. I glanced down from the video camera to see what could’ve easily been a teardrop descending from my glass of iced water. A room full of 200 people, over the course of 30 minutes, had turned to stone. The silence was broken by a quick sniffle and a mumbled “suck it up” from the evening’s featured speaker. Marcus Luttrell is a former Navy SEAL and author of the book “The Lone Survivor” – a story detailing his experience in Operation Red Wing – one that claimed the lives of his three SEAL brothers, and nearly his own. It was the eve of September 11th, and I was sitting at the Hollytree Country Club in Tyler, Texas. Marcus is an East Texas boy. He hates attention, doesn’t care much for public speaking, but loves his country. He also loved his SEAL brothers, and is committed to telling their story both to honor them and ultimately to provide comfort to our American brothers and sisters that come home in bad shape. So for those reasons, he was up there recounting horrific scene after horrific scene. Marcus regrouped and continued.
I’m often asked “Who uses StoryKeeping?”
Because there aren’t a wealth of StoryKeepers running around, there is a quick learning curve people must travel before they completely understand what StoryKeeping is up to. I respond, “StoryKeeping helps people to capture the highlights of their loved one’s lives by conducting interviews and creating keepsakes for their family and friends.”
“Oooohhh. So you interview old people?”
StoryKeeping is for YOU regardless of age. The StoryKeeping mission is to capture the highlights of everyone’s life. As long as you are loved by at least one other person on Earth it needs to happen. No one tells your story better than you, and after you’re gone your loved ones and descendants would give anything to see you, discover what experiences formed you, and be able to hear what made you who you are. Death pays no attention to your birth date, and the second breath leaves your body the story of your life is silenced forever. Unless, of course, it was recorded. Read the rest of this entry »
Timmermanns and Me
I enjoy driving down country roads. Actually, I enjoy riding along while someone else drives down country roads so I can look around and not endanger myself, cattle, deer, etc. One of my favorites is staring out the window when rows of crops are perpendicular to the road and I can see down each of them for a fraction of a second. It’s stunning, visually.
That said, I enjoyed the drive out to the Timmermann’s property. It was a lot like the drive out to my grandparent’s ranch. The Timmermann’s are from the Canyon Lake and Clear Springs area. Mine is from the Medina Lake and Castroville area.
Red Truck RIP
I wrote this poem about 6 years ago after I got into a head-on with a drunk driver. I’m sharing this with all of you today, because I believe, on some level, this experience has lead me to starting StoryKeeping. I hope you’ll enjoy my thoughts.
April 10, 2004
Good Friday had just begun
At half an hour until one
Though late at night I’m wide awake
So immediately I spot this car
Exiting the lot of Cowboy Bar
Must be some mistake I think
But the turnaround never comes
My voice of reason fully shunned; I’m stunned
As approaching Leslie Road I see
This pair of lights squared off at me
These shooting stars increasing speed
Growing brighter, larger, indefinitely
Read the rest of this entry »
Shawn, Debi, and Eason.
Have you ever thought, “Something great is happening right before my eyes”?
This entered my mind during yesterday afternoon’s StoryKeeping session. This was an extraordinary new way of capturing the highlights of a loved one’s life!
Debi and Shawn are self-described non-traditional parents. Debi is a single mom, but Shawn is still active in Eason’s life. They wanted to do it their way, and they are. In a non-traditional StoryKeeping session, I learned of how two vastly different people’s lives became intertwined perfectly, at a perfect time, for both of them. The perfection of their union manifested May 23, 2006 in the form of a beautiful baby boy, Eason Orion. Read the rest of this entry »
Right Beside You
Last week StoryKeeping went to the Cancer Therapy & Research Center for their monthly S.N.A.C.K.S. lecture luncheon. S.N.A.C.K.S. stands for “Some News About Cancer Knowledge and Support”. Mary Jackson, Director of Patient and Family Services, invited me to be the featured speaker for their March ‘10 edition. As in most of my endeavors, my aim was to make this thing fun.
As I walked up to the “CTRC”, I glanced off to my right and saw the blue-pastel high-rise Methodist Hospital where my life began roughly three decades ago. ”Full circle,” I thought, “Perhaps this is the start of something beautiful, too.” Read the rest of this entry »