Reflecting on Back-to-School: Stories That Last a Lifetime

As we send our children and grandchildren off to school this year, it’s hard not to think back to our own school days. The friendships we forged, the lessons we learned, and the experiences we shared are stories that have stayed with us throughout our lives.

Remember those early mornings, the excitement of seeing friends after summer break, the nerves before a big test, or the simple joy of recess? These moments may seem small, but they’ve shaped us in ways we often don’t realize until much later.

At Why Wait Stories, we believe that these memories—the ones from decades ago—are worth revisiting and preserving. The stories we carry from our school days have influenced the paths we've taken, the people we've become, and the values we hold dear. They’re not just memories; they’re the foundation of our lives.

As we watch the younger generation make their own memories, it's a perfect time to reflect on our own stories. What friendships have lasted a lifetime? What lessons learned in those early years still resonate today? These are the stories that connect generations, the tales that bind families together.

This back-to-school season, we invite you to take a trip down memory lane. Share those stories with your loved ones, and consider preserving them for the future. Whether it’s capturing a conversation with an old friend or documenting the impact of a beloved teacher, Why Wait Stories is here to help you honor the past and connect it with the present.

Let’s celebrate the stories that started in the classrooms, hallways, and playgrounds of our youth. They are, after all, the stories that make us who we are.

Wishing you a reflective and meaningful start to the school year!

Nostalgic Summers: The Stories That Last a Lifetime

This time of year makes us feel a little nostalgic here at Why Wait Stories, thinking back to those sun-soaked summer days of our childhood. Remember when the biggest decisions were whether to have a popsicle or an ice cream cone (big decisions at the Kingwood Country Club pool when our parents gave us a two snack limit!)

Summers for us were typically split between the sweltering summer heat in Texas (though I’m convinced kids don’t even notice the heat. Or maybe they just don’t let it stop them) and my dad's hometown of Cork, Ireland. Both places felt like freedom. In Texas, we spend long mostly unsupervised day biking for miles in search of the juiciest blackberries! Our blackberry club even had code words like “cowabunga!” to alert the others of a particularly good find. In Ireland, our days were spent buying penny sweets and exploring the charming streets with our friends. The taste of raspberries still brings me back to my grandmother’s garden where together we would pick berries and make the sweetest jam bake the best homemade brown bread on the Emerald Isle!

We’ve all got those precious summer memories—camping trips, building sandcastles, and chasing after the ice cream truck. It's these simple, joyful moments that shape our stories and stay with us forever.

Of course, here at Why Wait Stories, we're in the business of preserving those stories. They’re the tales we tell our kids, the moments we share with friends, and the stories that make us smile years later. For those of us with children still at home, let's remember the vacations we take and the memories we make this summer might be the stories we tell fifty years from now! They just might be the stories our children tell someday! Enjoy every minute.

Five Questions to Ask Your Dad This Father's Day

There are questions we all want to ask our parents

Sometimes we ask, but more often than not, we wait.  We wait for the right time, the right moment… We wait until the camera is fully charged or when we have time to write out each and every question. We wait for our siblings to weigh in. We wait until all our ducks are in a row. We wait it feels like the time to say 'goodbye' is approaching. Sometimes we wait too long.

This Father’s Day, we implore you NOT to wait and wanted to share a few of our favorite questions to ask during our Why Wait Stories Legacy Film interviews. 

Ask them in the car, or over breakfast, while recording with Voice Memos or your camera phone.  JUST ASK.

1. What was your favorite childhood experience?

2. What’s the most valuable life lesson that you've learned?

3. Tell me about the moment you fell in love with Mom…

4. What were your aspirations when you were young, and how did they evolve over time?

5. Is there anything you wish you had done differently in your life, and why?

 If you’d like professional broadcast journalists to help your family create a Legacy Film honoring your dad this Father's Day, we hope you'll think of us here at Why Wait Stories!

The WHY behind Why Wait Stories

The idea Why Wait Stories came slowly, then all at once. After my father was diagnosed with stage four cancer, I wanted to interview him. I was a journalist after all.  

At the time, I was the evening anchor at a local TV station in Colorado. I loved asking questions and, coincidentally, my dad loved telling stories.

This is where I would like to tell you I have a beautifully edited film of my dad telling me all about his childhood in Ireland and sharing the wisdom that would serve me in the years ahead. But I don’t... because I waited for the "right time.”

After we said goodbye, I did the next best thing. I hired a news videographer and we set up shop in the Irish bar where we celebrated my dad's life. Fueled by Guinness and Barry’s Tea, everyone told stories, great ones. That’s the thing about memorial services… everyone walks in the door with a distinct memory in their mind, a memory that must be shared.

That film, which I now call “The Life Well Lived Film,” is my most treasured possession. Every year, I watch it on his birthday. One year, it hit me...

Why Wait Stories is something we all need... something the world needs. 

My dream is that someday, we will all have beautifully produced films featuring the people we love... that creating a Legacy Film will be as natural as booking a family photographer or hiring a lawyer to draw up your will.

Now I’m asking you… Why Wait?