imagine standing in the middle of this
huge cemetery as you look around what do
you see what do you hear what do you
feel rows of tombstones a sea of names
dates inscribed long ago I asked this
recently it’s I heard somebody from the
back of the room whisper I see dead
well when I see this photo I see
something different I see thousands of
stories never told I hear wisdom in life
lessons never shared beneath each
tombstone I feel the stories of loved
ones that they never thought were worth
sharing like the day I showed up at a
pre-interview meeting at the home of a
92 year old whose son wanted me to hired
me to capture his dad’s life stories for
the family I knocked on the door a short
man answered the door very politely
introduced himself and then very quickly
told me I don’t know why my son wants me
to do this I’m just a simple country boy
from blanket Texas my first question of
course was where the hell is blanket
Texas but this man truly thought that
his stories were not important yet this
man was at Pearl Harbor on December 7th
of 1941 this same guy was on the beaches
of Iwo Jima when the flag went up on
Mount Suribachi think about it had his
son not thought enough about his dad
stories to record them they would have
been buried with him forever and more
importantly the lessons from his life
would have been buried as well I started
thinking about all this back when I
interviewed Holocaust survivors for
Steven Spielberg’s survivors of the
Shoah visual history foundation in the
late 1990s those thoughts created
feelings that have been reinforced
hundreds of times since 2006 when I
started my business life stories alive
during the living stories of regular
moms dads grandmas and grandpas for over
a decade now I’ve had those feelings
reinforced over and over again I now
know that each and every one of you can
have those feelings to think about a
loved one in your life right now
somebody who’s still around I wished I
would have done that back in 1997 on May
the 16th of 1997 my grandfather died if
you would have told me at his funeral
that within two months my dad would be
gone too I would have said you are crazy
and within two months of one another
that same year my dad died too and at
the funeral of both of those men I
watched as slowly but surely their
stories were buried with them oh sure I
I remember some of the stories they used
to tell but forever gone or the sound of
their voices the expression on their
faces as they told those stories and
tragically the stories that they never
told my guess is that the loved one that
you’re thinking about right now might
have some of those stories too in
keeping with the expression practice
what you preach I approach the most
challenging yet the most rewarding life
story I ever recorded my own mom’s if
you were to look up the word humble in
the dictionary you just might see a
sweet photo of my mom yep that’s mom
holding my granddaughter Lily
her first great grandchild shortly after
I started my business I asked mom if I
could record her life stories she said
no no no my stories aren’t important
year after year mom let me do your life
stories now my stories aren’t important
my stories aren’t important and then mom
turned 80 years old
and she said let’s do this so
I was thrilled you see when you
interview your own mom you can ask
questions you would never ask anybody
else as her chronologically conducted
interview progressed she talked about
the birth of her three sons then she
talked about raising those three boys
and then well you know rather than tell
you about it let me show you how it went
down
I think now is the appropriate time to
ask this question and you can be totally
honest in your answer because we all
know what the answer is which one of
your three sons is your favorite I would
never ever know we could be honest mom
we know it’s your middle child let’s
hear it come on fess up I never ever
[Laughter]
tried always to be fair with all three
what did you learn about my mom in just
60 seconds her laugh her smile the way
she carried herself what did you miss
by not recording the stories of your
parents and grandparents who were no
longer with you now imagine what you can
learn from the stories of the loved one
that you’re thinking about right now
when I do one of these life stories I
ask hundreds of questions but don’t
worry you don’t have to do that just
start with five I know most all of you
have one of these things a smartphone
when was the last time you use the voice
memos function on your phone here’s what
I want you to do very very important in
the next 24 hour
take out your smartphone turn on the
voice memos function and with the loved
one that you’re thinking about right now
ask the following five questions
question number one if you had just one
more day with a deceased loved one who
would it be and what would you do with
him that day question number two what is
the most important you lesson you’ve
learned from a mistake that you’ve made
question number three what are you most
grateful for in your life
question number four boxers briefs or
commando don’t ask that how did that get
in there No let’s try that again
question number four what are whom are
you most proud of in Hawaii and then
question number five is there anything
that you’ve never told me but when to
tell me right now
now imagine standing in the middle of a
huge Cemetery many years from now what
do you see different well now as you
look around you smile knowing that
beneath each tombstone or hundreds of
stories captured forever and many
generations of families better safer and
richer because somebody like you thought
enough about them to show up and keep a
life story alive just a few months ago
on March the fifth my mom died if you
would have told me well I you know I I
always wanted to but I never ever
thought that I’d be able to speak at her
funeral but I asked my brother’s can or
Sam if they wouldn’t mind if I did the
night before the funeral I didn’t know
what I was going to say so I sat down at
Mom’s kitchen table open up my laptop
computer click
to find her video life story in her
sweet sweet voice she told me what to
say you see the people that we love are
going to leave us but their stories
don’t have to that is a choice and that
choice is yours it starts with just five
questions begin today to bring your past
forward because once it’s gone you can
never rewind and oh by the way don’t
tell Ken or Sam but I am 99% sure that I
was mom’s favorite thank you [Applause]
huge cemetery as you look around what do
you see what do you hear what do you
feel rows of tombstones a sea of names
dates inscribed long ago I asked this
recently it’s I heard somebody from the
back of the room whisper I see dead
well when I see this photo I see
something different I see thousands of
stories never told I hear wisdom in life
lessons never shared beneath each
tombstone I feel the stories of loved
ones that they never thought were worth
sharing like the day I showed up at a
pre-interview meeting at the home of a
92 year old whose son wanted me to hired
me to capture his dad’s life stories for
the family I knocked on the door a short
man answered the door very politely
introduced himself and then very quickly
told me I don’t know why my son wants me
to do this I’m just a simple country boy
from blanket Texas my first question of
course was where the hell is blanket
Texas but this man truly thought that
his stories were not important yet this
man was at Pearl Harbor on December 7th
of 1941 this same guy was on the beaches
of Iwo Jima when the flag went up on
Mount Suribachi think about it had his
son not thought enough about his dad
stories to record them they would have
been buried with him forever and more
importantly the lessons from his life
would have been buried as well I started
thinking about all this back when I
interviewed Holocaust survivors for
Steven Spielberg’s survivors of the
Shoah visual history foundation in the
late 1990s those thoughts created
feelings that have been reinforced
hundreds of times since 2006 when I
started my business life stories alive
during the living stories of regular
moms dads grandmas and grandpas for over
a decade now I’ve had those feelings
reinforced over and over again I now
know that each and every one of you can
have those feelings to think about a
loved one in your life right now
somebody who’s still around I wished I
would have done that back in 1997 on May
the 16th of 1997 my grandfather died if
you would have told me at his funeral
that within two months my dad would be
gone too I would have said you are crazy
and within two months of one another
that same year my dad died too and at
the funeral of both of those men I
watched as slowly but surely their
stories were buried with them oh sure I
I remember some of the stories they used
to tell but forever gone or the sound of
their voices the expression on their
faces as they told those stories and
tragically the stories that they never
told my guess is that the loved one that
you’re thinking about right now might
have some of those stories too in
keeping with the expression practice
what you preach I approach the most
challenging yet the most rewarding life
story I ever recorded my own mom’s if
you were to look up the word humble in
the dictionary you just might see a
sweet photo of my mom yep that’s mom
holding my granddaughter Lily
her first great grandchild shortly after
I started my business I asked mom if I
could record her life stories she said
no no no my stories aren’t important
year after year mom let me do your life
stories now my stories aren’t important
my stories aren’t important and then mom
turned 80 years old
and she said let’s do this so
I was thrilled you see when you
interview your own mom you can ask
questions you would never ask anybody
else as her chronologically conducted
interview progressed she talked about
the birth of her three sons then she
talked about raising those three boys
and then well you know rather than tell
you about it let me show you how it went
down
I think now is the appropriate time to
ask this question and you can be totally
honest in your answer because we all
know what the answer is which one of
your three sons is your favorite I would
never ever know we could be honest mom
we know it’s your middle child let’s
hear it come on fess up I never ever
[Laughter]
tried always to be fair with all three
what did you learn about my mom in just
60 seconds her laugh her smile the way
she carried herself what did you miss
by not recording the stories of your
parents and grandparents who were no
longer with you now imagine what you can
learn from the stories of the loved one
that you’re thinking about right now
when I do one of these life stories I
ask hundreds of questions but don’t
worry you don’t have to do that just
start with five I know most all of you
have one of these things a smartphone
when was the last time you use the voice
memos function on your phone here’s what
I want you to do very very important in
the next 24 hour
take out your smartphone turn on the
voice memos function and with the loved
one that you’re thinking about right now
ask the following five questions
question number one if you had just one
more day with a deceased loved one who
would it be and what would you do with
him that day question number two what is
the most important you lesson you’ve
learned from a mistake that you’ve made
question number three what are you most
grateful for in your life
question number four boxers briefs or
commando don’t ask that how did that get
in there No let’s try that again
question number four what are whom are
you most proud of in Hawaii and then
question number five is there anything
that you’ve never told me but when to
tell me right now
now imagine standing in the middle of a
huge Cemetery many years from now what
do you see different well now as you
look around you smile knowing that
beneath each tombstone or hundreds of
stories captured forever and many
generations of families better safer and
richer because somebody like you thought
enough about them to show up and keep a
life story alive just a few months ago
on March the fifth my mom died if you
would have told me well I you know I I
always wanted to but I never ever
thought that I’d be able to speak at her
funeral but I asked my brother’s can or
Sam if they wouldn’t mind if I did the
night before the funeral I didn’t know
what I was going to say so I sat down at
Mom’s kitchen table open up my laptop
computer click
to find her video life story in her
sweet sweet voice she told me what to
say you see the people that we love are
going to leave us but their stories
don’t have to that is a choice and that
choice is yours it starts with just five
questions begin today to bring your past
forward because once it’s gone you can
never rewind and oh by the way don’t
tell Ken or Sam but I am 99% sure that I
was mom’s favorite thank you [Applause]
Please follow and like us: