Why I Chose Remento to Preserve My Parents' Stories

When I started looking for a way to preserve my parents' memories, I wanted something they would genuinely want to use. I looked into a few different options and kept seeing the same complaint from other families: the process felt like homework. That ruled out anything that asked my parents to sit down and write. I wanted them to have a straightforward way to respond to a question and simply tell the story, which is what led me to Remento.

"The fact that Remento made the process really low-lift for my parents meant they didn't feel like they were doing homework."

Finding the Right Way to Preserve My Parents' Memories

Most of the services I researched worked the same way. The storyteller was expected to type out a response to predetermined questions and clean it up before it counted as "done." For my parents, that framing turned something meaningful into a chore, and I didn't want preserving their memories to become another project on their to-do list.

With Remento, my parents received prompts by email or text and responded whenever they were ready, recording audio or video from whatever device they already had. There was no app to download and no password to remember. 

They clicked the link, answered the prompt, and told their stories in their own words. That was the deciding factor for me. I wasn't only looking for a way to preserve their memories. I wanted something they'd actually enjoy doing.

How Did Remento's Prompts Help My Parents Share More Stories?

The prompts turned out to be one of the biggest reasons Remento stood out. My parents didn't have to sit and think about which memories were worth sharing or where to start. A question would show up, they'd think about it for a bit, and then record their answer. 

Some of the prompts I chose for them came from Remento's question library, while others were custom questions I added myself or with other family members. That option mattered to me because there were things I wanted to know about my parents' lives that I might never have thought to ask on my own.

"It was really how the stories from the prompts were captured and how easy that was."

Once my parents recorded their stories, Remento's Speech-to-Story™ technology turned their recordings into written stories, and they could pair them with photos. Each of my parents had their own Remento Book, filled with the memories they had recorded. 

I also liked knowing that the stories they had already captured would stay preserved even without an active subscription. They were putting time into these memories, and I wanted to know they'd stay with our family.

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What Did I Discover Inside My Parents' Remento Books?

One of the parts I enjoyed most was going through the photos my parents uploaded to Remento. Some showed them when they were kids or in college, and it was fun to see them that way. I knew them as my parents, so seeing those earlier parts of their lives gave me a different perspective. 

There were parts of their lives I only knew through the stories they shared, and the photos gave me another way to connect with those memories.

"I really enjoyed going through the photos that they uploaded to Remento. The stories were neat, and it was fun to hear the ones they actually recorded as well."

I also flipped through each of their Remento Books and tried some of the QR codes, and they turned out really good. Being able to read their stories and see their original recordings made the experience much more personal. 

I wasn't just looking at memories from years ago. I was hearing my parents tell those stories themselves, in their own voices. Having the stories and recordings together made the books something our family could keep coming back to.

See inside a Remento book

Why Was Remento the Right Gift for My Parents?

Buying gifts for my parents had gotten harder every year. They didn't need more things, and I wasn't looking for something else to unwrap and set aside. 

I wanted to give them something with real meaning behind it, and looking back, Remento was the right call. My parents got something out of the experience itself, and I ended up getting something out of it too.

"It's really hard to buy gifts for my parents nowadays. I'm really happy I got them both Remento."

What made the gift feel especially worthwhile was knowing that the memories they captured would stay with our family. 

Each of them had their own Remento Book filled with stories, photos, and recordings, giving us something to return to long after the project was finished. For me, that made Remento feel like more than a gift. It gave my family a way to hold on to my parents' stories, in their own voices, for good.

Looking for a gift that works the same way for your own parents? See more ways families are gifting Remento for the holidays and everyday occasions, or read how Dave and Diana use Remento to preserve their own family's stories. 

If you're wondering what happens to recordings after the first year, Remento's FAQ on subscriptions covers that directly. When you're ready, get started with Remento.