24 weeks. 24 stories. One extraordinary life.
Every week, we send your parent or grandparent one gentle prompt. They speak for five minutes — or write, if they prefer. That's all. By the end of six months, you have something your whole family will keep forever.
No technical skill needed on their part. If they can speak, they can do this.
The Process
You set it up once. After that, all they need to do is speak. We've designed every step around people who don't consider themselves "good with technology."
You sign up in under two minutes. You tell us the storyteller's email address — your parent or grandparent — and the family members who should receive each story as it arrives. From here, it runs itself.
Every week, an email arrives in their inbox with one carefully chosen prompt — and two alternatives, in case the first doesn't speak to their life. They are never obligated to follow it. The prompt is simply a door. They can walk through it, or wander their own way entirely.
Their prompt this week, for example:
"Tell me about the house you grew up in. What did it smell like? Who was always in the kitchen?"
Inside their email is a single button. They press it. They speak. Their voice is instantly transcribed into text — no typing, no app, no account required. Or, if they prefer to write, they simply reply to the email. Either way, we receive their story.
This is the button inside their weekly email. One tap. No app. No login. No skill required — we have tested this with people in their eighties.
Their story is automatically sent to everyone on your family list that same week. You read it. You reply. You remember together. And every story is quietly collected, week by week, building toward something your whole family will treasure for generations.
What They'll Receive
Each prompt is crafted to unlock a specific, vivid memory. Not "tell me about your childhood" — but the particular question that opens a door they'd forgotten was there.
"Describe a meal that tasted like home. Who made it? What was the occasion — or was there no occasion at all?"
Also this week: "Tell me about a smell that takes you straight back to childhood."
"What was the bravest thing you ever did — even if nobody else knew it was brave?"
Also this week: "Tell me about a moment you surprised yourself."
"Tell me about someone you've never properly thanked. What would you say to them now?"
Also this week: "Who shaped the way you see the world, without ever knowing it?"
"What did you believe at twenty that you no longer believe? What changed your mind?"
Also this week: "What is the most important thing you have learned — and when did you finally understand it?"
"Tell me about a possession you once had that you wish you still owned. What happened to it?"
Also this week: "Describe a place that no longer exists but that you can still walk through in your memory."
"If you could sit across from your younger self — twenty years old, uncertain — what would you tell them?"
Also this week: "What do you know now that you wish someone had told you early?"
Every prompt arrives with a gentle note to them: this is just a suggestion. Tell whatever story wants to be told.
Margaret's Stories
1938 — 2024
24 stories told in her own words
Printed and bound. Or delivered as a print-ready PDF. Theirs to keep. Yours to treasure.
The End of Six Months
After their final story, you have the option to commission a Legacy Book — a beautifully designed, hardcover volume containing their stories, each accompanied by a photograph you choose.
The cover is customised with their portrait and a title of your choosing. The interior is typeset with care. It reads like the intimate, irreplaceable memoir it is.
The Legacy Book is entirely optional. Their stories are theirs regardless.
Early Subscribers
"My mother is 81 and has no interest in computers. She pressed the button in the email and spoke for twenty minutes about her first job. We were all in tears reading it. She said it felt like talking to a friend."
"The prompts are extraordinary. Week 13 — the gratitude one — my father wrote about a teacher from 1962. He'd never mentioned her in his life. We had no idea she existed. Three pages, completely unprompted by any of us."
"My siblings and I live in three different countries. Every Friday we all read Dad's story together. It's become the best part of the week. He is 78 and he's never felt so listened to."
Investment
Six months of guided storytelling for the person you love — shared every week with everyone who loves them — for less than a meal out each month.
Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.
Billed once upfront. Equivalent to R250/month — saving R180 on monthly.
Available after 24 stories. Optional add-on.
Questions
Nothing to install. Nothing to download. The email contains a single button. When they tap it — on any phone, tablet, or computer — it opens a simple recording page in their browser. They speak. The words appear on screen. They press send. That's it. We have tested this with people in their eighties who had never recorded a voice message before.
Nothing happens. There is no penalty, no pressure, no chasing. The following week's prompt arrives as normal. Missed prompts are never deleted — they can return to them whenever they like. Some people do several in one sitting on a quiet Sunday afternoon. The pace is entirely theirs.
Whoever you choose. At signup, you provide a list of email addresses — yourself, siblings, cousins, grandchildren. Each week, the moment a story is submitted, it is sent automatically to everyone on that list. You can update the list at any time.
Yes, easily. Simply email us and we'll adjust the schedule — two prompts a week, or more. Some families choose to complete their 24 stories in three months. Some take longer. There is no expiry date on stories worth telling.
At this stage, 24 Stories is available in English only. The prompts, the platform, and the Legacy Book are all produced in English. We are a South African service and understand this may not suit every family — we hope to add more languages in time.
No. When the time comes, you choose which stories to include, which photographs to place alongside them, and what the cover should say. It is your book to shape. We handle all the design and production from there.
That is entirely up to you. Some families set it up as a surprise — the first prompt simply arrives, warm and unhurried, and the storyteller is charmed rather than daunted. Others sit down with their parent and explain the idea together first, which becomes its own lovely conversation. Both approaches work beautifully.
Wonderful — it works exactly the same way. Many people sign up for themselves and add family members to their recipient list. The prompts and the voice-to-text are just as simple either way.
Give This Gift
Twenty-four stories. A lifetime of memory. A book your children — and theirs — will open on quiet evenings for the rest of their lives.
Or those stories stay untold. The gift is only possible while there is still time to give it.