In July I had one of those Saturdays that was a paradox. The morning was spent mourning my Uncle. He was quite a character and could really spin a yarn. A few days before I had visited him with my wife and she noted how close to death he seemed. She was right. That afternoon I drove from the graveside of my uncle, to a park across town where I celebrated my grand daughter's third birthday. It really was the circle of life in one day.

At my Uncle’s funeral they showed a very nice slideshow which included quite a few photos I had never seen before. Photos with my grandfather (who died before I was born) and also unseen by me photos of my mother. I so wondered about the details of those photos and other family stories and now I may never know them, because he is gone. And memories my grandaughter will also never know. And is is a shame, because, as I said, he was a great story teller and there was a time he could remember exact dates and times of all sorts of events. Not so much his last few years, but there was a time.

I started to think about how many memories are lost to time because we haven’t taken the time to record them. At one time, people were prolific letter writers and we know a lot about our history because many of those letters were preserved. But not so much anymore. InBox Zero causes us to delete our emails. Our excuse today is, just, TIME. Taking the time. But technology has allowed us all to have the means. Many of our cameras, tablets and of course phones, record audio and video. We just need to take the time. So this episode I want to encourage you to take the time before it is gone, before it is too late.

1. Modern technology gives us the means

2. You need to make the time.

3. Use what you have, a smart phone works if placed appropriately.  You can also spend a little money and improve the audio quality immensley.  See the Amazon links below.

4. Don't know where to start, try these starter questions.  Just click the link to download a PDF version: tellmeaboutyourlife

5. Save the files to physical media (DVD, etc.) and in the cloud like to Evernote.

6. Share the Evernote link with interested friends and family.

7. Don't put things off.  Enjoy these memories with loved ones while you can.

Although the technology in this article is a bit dated, you might get some good ideas from the following article: http://www.instructables.com/id/Record-Your-Familys-Oral-History-before-it-dies-/