Hi there! Jay here (I'm on the left). My mom had heart surgery in October of 2021 and that changed a lot of things for me. My wife and I moved closer to my parents - from a three hour trip that included driving and a ferry, to a two minute walk away.

My brother and I made it our mission to make more memories with our aging parents. We spent more time with them - dinners, walks, evening tea. We started taking lots of photos and videos.

It also happened that my niece was planning for her wedding next year, and she told me about these voice guest books she came across and asked me if I could build one. I've been building things using software and hardware for 30 years, so I of course said yes.

When my mom's birthday came up this past May, I knew I wanted to make something special for her. And the phone was done for my niece's wedding, so I figured it would be a perfect chance to use my mom's birthday to test out the phone. I started taking it to family members around Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. But we also have family across Canada, in the United States and in the Philippines. I wanted to include them too.

I built a system that lets anyone from most countries in the world call in and leave a message. I shared a phone number with our family and friends all around the world, and they all recorded messages for my mom. As I was putting them all together, I listened to them and they really let me know how much everyone loves my mom.

I found a little radio that I thought my mom would like and put all the recordings into it. We all sat down together as she listened to the messages, some from friends she hadn't heard from in a while. She loved the gift and my heart was full.

I knew this was something special - hearing the voices of your friends and family telling you how special you are. It's beautiful. So I decided I wanted to share this with others. That's when Memory Muses was born. I hope you get the chance to experience one for yourself.