Date: Oct. 26, 2023
Participants: Molly Varley (46), Tilden Varley (10), Karen Burnett (80)


Click through some of the images that we used during our conversation. 

Who should take part?

​

Anyone you want! This is a great gift for a spouse, parent or grandparent, friend, sibling, or other loved one. It’s also a great gift for yourself and the people who love you!

​

What makes this service different from others?

 

Personalization! I take the time to get to know you and anyone I’m conversing with. The use of a personal artifacts box is a particularly important step, since it helps me frame our conversation, but it also aids in helping memory. Significant research shows that images, items, and music can help people recover memories and stimulate the ability to reminisce.

​

In addition, I am a trained historian, so I have extensive experience working with many different people in different contexts, and I know the importance of preserving the past. It is vital for your family and loved ones, but it is also important for humanity. You will have the choice to sign a waver that will allow me to donate a copy of your oral history to a local archive, meaning that this conversation will be preserved and used by historians and scholars for years to come.

 

What should I put in the archive box? Does it have to be a real box?

​

It could be an actual shoebox or something similar, but it may be simply digital images. It’s best to have some physical items, so even if the items are digital, it’s useful for the conversation to have printed copies of them during our conversation. Physical things help us remember better!

 

Anything you would like can go into it: very important items like your grandmother’s wedding dress or family heirlooms work well, and old family pictures. It’s fun and useful to have a couple of everyday items—those things that have been in boxes for years that have little value but spark memories.

​

When you give them to me, though, please take pictures (even pictures of other pictures). You can email them to me. I don’t want to take your important items away because accidents do happen. But when we meet, it is best to have physical copies. If you can’t have the actual item, print the picture, since holding something as a memory works better than looking at digital copies.

​

What are the conversations like?

​

We'll meet wherever is most comfortable for you: in your house, a hospital, a friend's home, or we can arrange another area such as a library. You are welcome to have other people with you, either in the conversation or simply to help you feel more comfortable. We can do a single session or multiple ones. Each conversation will be recorded will last about an hour. I can talk with one person or facilitate conversation between two or more. I can also run a conversation station at a gathering or event.

​

What happens after the conversation?

​

I will edit your audio to minimize background noise, for pace and listenability. I will not alter your words or take anything you say out unless you ask me to. I will transcribe your audio into a document and provide you with this as a word or google document. I provide you with a digital copy of your final audio that you can keep and share. If you would like a printed book, I will create the book using the transcript of our conversation paired with images of your artifact box. I will order the book (as many copies as you would like) and mail it to recipients. 

​

What if the world shuts down again? Or if my loved one lives far away?

 

At this point, I am only conducting in-person conversations. We can wear masks if it makes any of us feel more comfortable, and opening any windows or running an air purifier can help reduce the risks of passing illnesses to each other. Check back soon since I will be working on how to create high quality experiences remotely.

 

What is your cancellation policy?

​

We will work to reschedule if needed. If full cancellation is needed, you can either transfer your service to another person or cancel outright with no fee prior to the conversation. After the conversation, you can add services (more conversations, books, etc.) at any point.

 

When is payment required?

​

50% of the total service is required at the time of the conversation. The remaining amount is required upon delivery of the final product(s).

 

Do you work with kids?

​

Yes. Conversations with children and multiple generations are amazing. Oral histories with kids make great gifts for grandparents who live far away and will be wonderful for them and their kids in the future. Conversations between kids and older friends or relatives are also amazing.

​

Do you work with people with memory loss or dementia?

​

Yes. Reminiscing with the artifacts box can be great for people with memory loss. I am not an expert in dementia or other kinds of memory loss, but I can be patient and caring, and this setting can be very therapeutic for people in that position. If medical caregivers need to be present, that is perfectly fine.

 

I have other questions or concerns.

I want to talk about them! Please email me at historytea1@gmail.com!