Preserving memories with Von Runtenberg Memories
By Toi Creel
One of the most difficult things to go through in life is a tragedy— specifically the loss of someone you love.
Though enduring loss is difficult, what can make those moments more bearable is the thought of celebrating the life of someone you loved.
Von Ruhtenberg Memories is an online service that is meant to preserve stories and memories almost like a family visual library.
It’s the brainchild of Tyler Elizabeth Lewis, founder of Von Ruhtenberg Memories, inspired by a desire to capture memories with her own family.
“As I sat beside my dying grandmother several years ago, I knew then, at that point, memories were something I could always hold on to,” Lewis said.
The service captures personal memories of family members. In the beginning, an email is sent out asking each family member which memories and stories they want to be highlighted.
Lewis selected a video editor who is particularly talented at capturing the essence of a person visually- those beautiful quirks that make a person endearing like asymmetric shoulders or the way they hold their hands and the jewelry on their fingers.
“I believe that our memories are sometimes all we have, and they are what make us truly wealthy.”
Tyler Elizabeth Lewis
Lewis got the idea for the service from a series of long conversations with her mother, reminiscing about her grandmother’s silent feud about a cleaning lady.
“We remembered a hysterical story about my late grandmother and her really stubborn Japanese cleaning lady who was not fond of grandmother at all!” Lewis said.
Her grandmother had married late in life to a man who brought a live-in housekeeper, Masako, who was not fond of her employer’s wife.
“We discovered that my little brother remembered details we had never heard and my mother knew parts of the story my little brother and I had never known. How we all wished we had captured the details of grandmother telling the stories. It would have been priceless not only to hear her words, but to see her sweet, thin body, in her darling little clothing, reminiscing just one more time. I loved the way she would smile with a deceitful look when she knew she had been egging on poor Masako. That is when I realized everyone wishes they could see their loved ones tell their favorite stories again and again, even more so after they’re gone,” Lewis said. “I believe that our memories are sometimes all we have, and they are what make us truly wealthy.”
For more information call (310) 980-8849 or email tyler@vonruhtenberg.com
