Narrative Portraits is a unique and wonderful business! We decided to engage Narrative Portraits to create oral histories for both sets of our parents in their elder years and we are so grateful to have these important family records, particularly now that these memories are fading for our parents. This has been a gift not only for us, but for our children and future generations.-J.G.

Last year our mother spent time with Barbara Novak creating a Narrative Portrait.  We loved the idea that the rich sound of Mom’s voice and all her stories would be available to us any time we wanted. So what began as a therapeutic journey for her, became a precious gift for the rest of us. We are now listening to not 1, not 2, but 5 CDs filled with stories, observations, hopes and dreams and often some aspect of Mom’s life that we had not been aware of or had forgotten.-The Griffith family

I just wanted to thank you for those wonderful CDs.  I finally had a chance to start listening today.  Just a real treasure, just wonderful.  I can’t thank you enough on behalf of my family.  I’d be glad to recommend your services to others as they think about doing this kind of thing.--DA

I know this is big but I wouldn’t want to make these tapes with anyone but you.  Many thanks for your compassion, intelligence and expertise through this process.  –SS

(Written by a client with cancer who hired me to help her create a Narrative Portrait for her children )

Thank you for doing such a wonderful job on my mom’s audio.  It was very soothing to listen to during a particularly stressful time.  –JC

 Thanks, thanks for the wonderful job you did, my head is still in a whirl about all this.  The Narrative Portrait is great, brings back a lot of memories.  Just wonderful.—TK

(Written after the Narrative Portrait was presented to the client at her 90th birthday party)

Thanks so much for your patience and understanding while working with me and Ward. I think you captured Ward’s early life well.  He talks about those early years much more than the subsequent time he spent in the work place.  At any rate he enjoyed talking to you and that’s important. –AW

(The client had significant memory loss and his wife hired me to work with him to tell his story in the hope that he might enjoy reminiscing.)