A Single Diary Notebook
The original inspiration that sparked the creation of this app was a single handwritten diary given to me by my grandmother a few years ago.
I was the eldest of three siblings. Because my brother and sister were close in age, from as early as I can remember, I was always told: “You’re the big brother.”
“You’re the big brother, so be strong.”
Hearing that so often as a little boy, I learned to keep quiet even when I was sad or hurting, letting tears fall silently without making a sound.
That helped me build patience and self-discipline, but my maternal grandmother saw through it, felt deep compassion for me, and watched over me with special tenderness.
Decades passed in the blink of an eye. The teary-eyed boy grew past forty. One day, when I visited my mother’s childhood home with my wife and two children, my grandmother quietly handed me a hardcover book.
“This is a diary I kept about you. Please read it when you have time.”
Though gently aged by time, it was a thick, beautifully bound book with an unmistakable elegance in its craftsmanship.
A 40-Year Record of Life and Growth
“April 6, 1980 — A misty, rainy Sunday.”
Beginning with that opening line, the diary documented forty years of my life through the loving eyes of my grandmother.
The weather of that day, how I was doing, my mother’s state of mind, my siblings, my father, my grandfather, and my grandmother’s own tender emotions.
It captured so many intangible feelings that cameras and video recordings could never hold.
Childhood illnesses, scrapes and bruises, rebellious teenage phases, tensions with my father — entries were sometimes spaced weeks apart, sometimes months, and occasionally over a year, but each milestone of my growth was faithfully recorded.
Reading about myself and my family through my grandmother’s eyes felt like reading a novel, yet it also read like a lifelong love letter wishing for my happiness and health. I felt enveloped by boundless love.
The Heart Poured into NoteFor
I wanted to record my own children’s growth in journals to gift them someday. And more than that, I hoped other people around the world could experience the profound love of receiving a life journal.
While our app started as a digital diary, our long-term vision includes allowing users to export elegant digital books, or even print and bind their journals into heirloom physical books to gift to their loved ones.
The road ahead is long, but we are dedicated to building this vision step by step. Thank you for walking this path with us.