We make Senior Living Simple.

Senior care options can be overwhelming and confusing. We help families navigate all their options to live their best life. Getting the care they need while supporting their independence.

Oasis Senior Advisors is here to help, because the right place means everything.

Ray Shafer, CSA 518.930.6416

RShafer@YourOasisAdvisor.com

OasisSeniorAdvisors.com/Albany sense. The sound of a familiar voice is more likely to evoke a powerful feelings than distinct memories, but these are just as important to preserve.

Ways to record your loved ones

Dozens of ways exist to record a loved one. Certain books, for instance, are designed for this very purpose. My husband’s grandfather, Papa Gene, used one to record himself reading “The Night Before Christmas” for my children before he passed. It’s easy to do: A microphone is embedded in the book’s spine, so you merely press a button and read aloud following the printed text. Each page is recorded individually and played automatically as the pages are turned.

Interviewing family members to capture their oral history is another option. Carleton’s family members also have recordings of her great-grandmother, Sara Maria. She was staying with a cousin of Carleton’s grandmother. “[The cousin] made two video recordings asking her all these questions about her history and it’s amazing, because there’s so much info there that I didn’t know! Down to her full name, which was in very classic Hispanic style she had like 10 names,” Carleton says. Sara Maria was “an absolute force of nature,” and Carleton is thankful that videos exist today documenting her vivacious energy. “The best part for me is that it’s not just the history … She lived to be 103, and the recording was made [a few years before that], so you get so much of her personality,” she says. “She kept getting sidetracked and asking things like, ‘What are you drinking? Is that wine?!’”

If you love someone with a memory-related condition like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, these recordings can be both challenging and poignant. When recording them, let the relative lead the discourse in order to avoid triggering any anxiety or frustration. You could ask questions like “When did you feel most alive?” or “Are there specific things you would want our family to know about you?”

For shorter snippets, like Carleton’s birthday songs, voicemails and voice memos are more than sufficient for preserving someone’s messages. Almost all smartphones and laptops are equipped with a voice memo app of some sort that could easily be used to save a digital recording. Along those same lines, your phone is a great tool for recording video, or you could use a hand-held digital recorder. If you don’t live near the person, you can easily record a Zoom call at the click of a button.

When to record your loved ones

There is no time like the present. Life famously throws curve balls when you least expect them, so if you want a recording of a loved one, don’t put it off.

If you’re not feeling a strong sense of urgency, you could start a tradition linked to a holiday your family likes to celebrate. Christmas is a great time of year to do it, as you’re already gathered and prone to reminiscing about years past. You could have different family members take turns recording each other, or have a “guest of honor” that everyone interviews in turn each year. However you do it, you’ll end up with a strong oral history and an important family heirloom to pass down for generations. n