Our Beginning

This idea came from a personal experience over 30 years ago. My grandfather was 96, living in a nursing home, and beginning to fail. Grandpa had never lived close by. We had not shared many life experiences. I began to wonder how well I really knew him, and how well my kids and their kids would ever really know and appreciate their great-grandfather. While I wanted our kids to know, respect, love, and benefit from their extended family roots, time was running out on this one. I hired Jan, a woman with excellent social skills, to interview grandpa, to learn more about his life.

Jan was brilliant. She asked questions none of us family members had. Fast forward to now: Jan’s tapes have been digitally saved for posterity. Grandpa’s sons (my dad and uncle), grandsons (my brother and me), and great-grandchildren (my kids) all can listen to grandpa’s life story in his voice, with his emotions, as if he were here.

People may not take the time to talk with and learn from people they care about, and then it’s too late. Sometimes, the elderly are discarded in our fast-paced culture. Now or someday, though, learning our family members’ life stories help us with a sense of belonging, purpose, identity, and direction.

Family Fireside embraces the warmth and coziness of who we know as family.

—Doug, Owner and Founder