If you’re a sentimental person who takes pride in the past, here’s a new way to connect with relatives. Ask them if they’re up for recording family history. This will be easy if you have anyone who loves to share stories, recipes or wisdom.

Tell them you want to celebrate your rich family history by recording it. This way, you can preserve the past before it dies out. Tap or click here for a few easy ways to preserve your old photos and videotapes.

After all, your grandma, great-uncle or godmother may be holding onto a valuable story that could enrich your life. Maybe it could provide your children or grandchildren with life advice to serve them in the future. But if your relatives die before sharing their stories, that treasured piece of the past is gone forever.

Why preserving family history is so important

For millennia, humans have passed down family stories through oral histories. Cavemen would gather around the fire and tell tales under the night skies. Tap or click here for the best astronomy apps for iPhone and Android.

Even now, older family members love to reminisce about “the good old days.” Maybe you have a grandparent who grew up during the Great Depression and can shed light on how your ancestors survived. Or perhaps a relative had a front-row seat to historical events like Woodstock 1969.