Once is a gift of your attention and care

What is the best gift you can give to your grandma, to your dad, to a someone who is older and wiser, someone you love deeply?

I asked ChatGPT, and I understood that what they treasure the most are not objects! Rather, what brings them joy is your attention and care. Spend quality time together – work on a project, have a conversation in the afternoon sharing stories, gratitude, and family memories.

With Once you share stories, have fun, record the best bits, make new memories, and create a memory book together!

In the gift box you will find almost everything you need:

• A notebook and a pencil to take notes
• A microphone to make clear recordings
• An app access code to assist you on your journey.

What you will need to add to that is your time, enthusiasm, and attention.

Once you add everything together, you can create something unique. Something that will be only about your loved one, your family, friends, and you of course.

Sometimes, Once is misunderstood. I want to address this right here and now.

Once is not a soulless AI agent that would write the stories for you while you sleep.

• ❌ It’s not about the AI agent. ✅ Your time, attention, and care is the true gift.
• ❌ It’s not about what’s in the box. ✅ Your time, attention, and care is the true gift.
• ❌ It’s not about app. ✅ Your time, attention, and care is the true gift.

I hope you get the idea.

It’s you. Your time. You listening to their story. Your love ❤️.

How to get started? It’s easy.

Have a lunch or a walk together, and when the time is right ask your first question. “Remember, you told me about uncle Rudy and how he got completely lost in London and wandered for hours, while he was only two minutes from his hotel? I had a good laugh, tell me this story again!”

Once the conversation is going, don’t simply let the story finish. Be curious, ask questions, learn more about all the people around them, different times, different places. You will be rewarded handsomely.

One area that I’m studying right now is the medical benefits of story telling. This 2022 study on patients with AD shows that regular reminiscence therapy “…is effective in supporting global cognition, ameliorating depression, and improving specific aspects of the QoL in elderly people with AD”.

I am not a medical professional and as such, cautious to make such claims myself, but one thing I know for sure – even if love cannot heal all wounds, there are some wounds that only love can heal.

I told you already that with Once you are making a book together. The key word is “together”, and it’s going to take some work.

Once app contains several AI agents that will help you with planning, writing, topic analysis, and so on. But these tools can only get you so far.

Prepare to put your time to have conversations, set the tone of the book, plan how you will unfold every story, and fix mistakes that even the smartest AI can make.

Kateryna, Founder

When my family gets around the table, parents and grandparents often tell stories. Some stories I’ve heard already a thousand times – although in slightly different variations.

I used to roll my eyes when a familiar story came up. Again.

But one day I thought – what if this time I choose to go deeper? Not let out an awkward laugh and let the conversation move, but ask questions and hear more?

Three of my grandparents are still alive today. Sometimes I think that I will lose them one day, but in this project I don’t want to think of sadness and loss; on the contrary – I want to celebrate joy of being together, the joy of sharing stories, the joy of life.

I can do it, and so can you.