Lives Told: A new platform in Canada to help memorialize loved ones

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There’s a famous quote that exists in many variations and has multiple attributions — Hemingway, Banksy, depending on where you look — but the sentiment is the same: you pass away twice. Once when you are buried, and again when someone says your name for the very last time.  

When it comes to keeping our loved ones with us through stories and memories, we all have moments we want to keep forever. With Lives Told, you can.  

Lives Told is a new, innovative digital platform developed to help people memorialize their loved ones through professionally crafted life stories that combine permanence, beauty and editorial expertise. In partnership with Postmedia’s leading news brands across Canada, Lives Told gives everyone access to the kind of meaningful tribute typically reserved for public figures, with no writing experience required.  

To publish a story on Lives Told, users are guided through an easy-to-use digital interviewdesigned to collect the important details of a loved one’s life, from places lived and schools attended to the personality traits and special stories that made them unique. With the help of friends and family, this is an opportunity to eternalize your fondest memories while collecting the finer, precious details that are often overlooked or may be lost forever as time goes on.  

Submissions are then enriched using Postmedia’s proprietary StoryCraft Tool, which is designed to add historical context, local insights and narrative structure. Our editorial staff then shapes each tribute into a cohesive, beautifully written narrative that meets professional standards for publication across Canada.  

The final story, beautifully and artfully told, is enhanced with photo galleries that represent everything from first steps to final days, capturing years of love, laughter and moments of impact.  

The gift of a lasting legacy

Loss is something that connects us all — no matter who you are or where you’re from, we all experience the passing of a loved one at some point in our lives. Once they’re gone, the questions always remain: how do we remember them? How do we honour them?  

We tell their story.  

Long after the funeral, the flowers and the condolences fade away, the story is all that remains. We reminisce over the little things: the moments they made us laugh, their favourite songs and movies, the way they got worked up watching their number one hockey team miss the winning shot — and the big things: the way they picked up on the first ring every time, the days they wiped our tears and ways they supported our dreams, however wild.  

While a traditional obituary is an effective announcement of passing, it is often brief, formal and factual and put together quickly shortly after a loss is experienced. A story on Lives Told is significantly deeper, created with care and infused with the same love and warmth we experience when reminiscing over lost loved ones with family and friends. It is an opportunity to connect, heal through storytelling and preserve the legacy and lasting impact of your loved one — not only for you, but for generations to come. 

Lives Told is now available across Canada through Postmedia’s national network of trusted media brands. The platform is also being introduced in select cities across the U.S., allowing American families to access the service through participating local outlets or directly at livestold.com

Additional partnerships with major North American and international media brands are planned. Select stories will appear in print editions of Canadian and U.S. publications in the coming weeks. 

Don’t wait until the memories are lost. Capture your loved one’s legacy now, before it fades.  

To learn more, visit livestold.com or email livestold@postmedia.com.  

Sincerely,  

Meghanne Uptigrove
Editor, Lives Told

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