Like many writers of his generation, my Grandpa Jim was loyal to his IBM Selectric to the very end. He was a simple man with simple pleasures. Yet, his letters wove a nuanced story of life as a loving husband and father, constant gardener, and doting grandparent in a historically agricultural corner of the San Fernando Valley. In the end, his ashes were scattered at sea, but his legacy endured on land. It was exquisitely preserved in those hundreds of pages of Courier typeface, softly punctuated by penciled revisions.
As a mindful person living in earthquake territory, I find I’m often assessing the merit of my possessions. What is valuable enough to compete with the likes of food and water? What creates an abiding sense of home? For me, time and again, my grandfather’s letters have promised that depth of meaning.
Like me, I think many people draw strength from loved ones and their stories. We look to shared sources of origin, history, and humanity to buoy and ground us in the best and worst of life. The only thing that divides us in that instinct is whether or not we know someone with the time and passion to commit them to print. I founded WLS to bridge that divide.
Here at Woven Life Stories, we hope to democratize and immortalize your most cherished memories, so that everyone can enjoy a piece of the past long into the future. Hand to my heart, I truly believe everyone has a story worth writing, sharing, and preserving. It is our mission to show you, one book at a time, through that same craftsmanship in storytelling that my grandfather long showed me.
-Nicole, WLS Founder + Principal Life Writer
