To bring families closer through stories they can see themselves in.

Heirloom Stories began with a gift for my niece’s fifth birthday. My dad, her grandpa, has always loved making up magical stories just for her and telling them one chapter at a time. Those stories became a special part of their bond, even though they live more than 1,000 miles apart.

For her birthday, I recorded my dad telling a story he had created especially for her. It brought together some of her favorite things, including unicorns, her favorite neighborhood dog, her best friend, and her love of rock climbing. I added illustrations and music, weaving everything together with his narration. The warmth in his voice made it feel as though her grandpa were right there beside her.

When we watched her experience the finished story for the first time, she was completely mesmerized. Her reaction showed us how powerful it can be for a child to recognize the things they love in a story and hear it told by someone who loves them. That experience inspired both me and Stan to create Heirloom Stories, so more families could feel that same connection, no matter where they are.

When my daughter was born, I became a person who counts things. Weeks, ounces, hours of sleep, the days until her next checkup. Every parent knows the list. But somewhere between her first laugh and the first time she reached for a book on her own, I realized the milestones I was tracking so carefully were mile markers on a road that only goes one direction, and she was moving down it faster than I could take it in.

What I wanted most was for her to grow up surrounded by the voices of the people who love her. Childhood is short, and the years we get with grandparents are shorter still. I wanted her to have more than photographs. I wanted heirlooms she could actually hear: her grandmother telling a story where she is the hero, her grandfather saying her name the way only he says it. The first time she heard Grandpa’s voice telling a story built around her stuffed rabbit, she went completely still, then looked up at me like she’d been let in on a secret. That look is why Heirloom Stories exists.