It All Started With a Voice...

It all started with a voice. A simple recording. Ten years ago, my grandmother passed away. Her dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren lovingly called her Sitto, Lebanese for Grandma. At the funeral, the priest played a recording from a conversation he had with Sitto a few weeks earlier.

On the recording, the priest asked, "if you are going to meet the Lord one day... what do you want to tell him?"

"I'm going to tell him, 'I thank you for the life that you gave me, and the family you gave me, and the friends you gave me. And thank you for giving me a little intelligence,'" Sitto answered.

As this played in the church, allowing us to hear Sitto's words in her voice -- a voice that meant love, comfort, and guidance for her whole family since the day we were each born -- everyone felt her presence again. If the priest had recited what she said, or shown us her words written down, the meaning would have landed, but it would not have resonated in all of our hearts like it did when we heard her voice.

I still have that recording and I listen to it all the time when I want to hear Sitto's voice. I just wish there was more -- more of her stories, more of her thoughts and feelings; more of her voice.

In the years since Sitto passed, I've had children of my own. And as I've grown, I find myself wanting to hear my family's stories, to hear where I came from so that I can tell my children about their family and heritage. To capture these stories of my parents and family in our own voices, I created Sonolog. My hope is that, through daily reflections, we can all shape our story together, so that we can pass it on and know where we came from -- who we are.

But more than just looking back and telling the stories of our past, I wanted Sonolog to be a way to look forward. Sitto was talking about what was to come and the gratitude she had for the blessings the Lord gave her. In the same way, Sonolog allows us to capture our thoughts about what's on our minds today, and what's to come.

It's been a joy creating Sonolog and using it to capture my family's stories over the last couple years. And now, I hope you can use it with your friends and family the same way we have: To tell your story as only you can -- in your own voice.