“My Mother was recently diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease, and with this diagnosis came the realisation that we probably had limited time with her. My Own Words gave me the opportunity to create a permanent keepsake that my family and I can cherish in the future. Virginia sensitively handled my enquiry and was flexible in finding a time to come and speak to my Mother, talk her through the process and understand what it was she wanted to get across. During the interview she was careful to give my Mother time to recount the stories from her life she wanted to cover, and just gave her gentle prompting from time to time. She also spent time chatting with my Mum to get to know her, editing the final piece so that it best reflected her. She even used one of her favourite pieces of music in the recording – which my Mum was delighted with. It is great to listen to the final audio now, but I know that in the future it will become incredibly precious.“ Lilly
“Virginia is a good listener and quickly put our mother [Jackie] at ease. Soon Mum was talking about the past and the key events in her life from as far back as the 1930's. The sound quality of the recording is excellent so now we have a record of Mum's past in her own words that we can keep and can be shared easily amongst friends and family.” Clive
“Just had to thank you for the CD you did for Nan’s memories. I had forgotten how lovely it was. I have been so distressed with her these past few months that it was wonderful to go back to the mother I love- her sense of humour, her humanity and her loving personality came through. I will always treasure this. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Diane Day
"My husband and I were a bit uncertain and nervous about making an oral history recording, unsure as to how to begin. However Virginia put us at ease and led us easily into the start. She was very relaxed and consequently so were we. It was good to go through our memories. We enjoyed doing so, and we found one memory would lead into another. If needed, she would give us a gentle prompt.
We are delighted to have made this recording of our memories so that should they begin to fade, we will not have lost them forever. Also, along with photographs, our children and grandchildren will have audio memories of us when we are no longer with them.
I would advise anyone who is thinking about it, to go ahead. I am sure they will be very glad to have done it.” C. Guthrie
“My father in law is a brilliant storyteller and it was a precious and intimate experience to record him recounting memories, some familiar and some new and surprising. Virginia was a gentle, unobtrusive but strengthening and creative presence and the interview worked well with informal, conversational questions. I know from a voice recording of my mum, made only weeks before she died, how special these personal and expressive moments become.” Yo
This is not a testimonial but a quote that encapsulates the essence of the challenges and optimism that our services represent.
“I know now that we never get over great losses; we absorb them, and they carve us into different, often kinder, creatures...We tell the story to get them back, to capture the traces of footfalls through the snow.”
― Gail Caldwell, Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship