A message for their 18th birthday, recorded now
They're eight, or four, or eleven, and the version of you they'll never remember is the one talking to them right now. Record it — a video, a voice note or a letter — and address it to the morning they turn eighteen. It waits, kept exactly as you leave it, and arrives by private link on the day.
Record one now and another every birthday if you like; each is addressed to the same day. Nobody has to remember, and nobody can open it early. Your first three keepsakes are free; $59 once unlocks unlimited, and nothing ever renews.
First three free · $59 once for unlimited · By invite during beta
- Private link, no account for them
- Kept exactly as you leave it
- Never a software voice
How it works for an 18th birthday
Record
Say the things that are true today: what they're like, what you hope for them, the advice you were given at eighteen and ignored. A minute is plenty. Come back next year and add another; all of them can wait for the same day.
Choose the day
Address it to them and pick their 18th birthday. While they're small the email goes to the parent or guardian you name; when they have their own address, update it — once a year we send you the list to check.
It arrives
On the morning of their 18th, one plain email with a private link. They open it, keep a copy if they like, and it stays there for them. You see what's been delivered and what's still waiting.
What to say to them on their 18th birthday, for later
Openers, not scripts. A minute is plenty, and it doesn't have to be the big one — start with the thing you'd want them to hear on an ordinary day.
- You're eight as I record this and you want to be a vet, a drummer and the person who names the dogs at the shelter. I hope at least one of those stuck.
- Happy 18th. Here is what I was like at eighteen, so you know the bar was not high.
- The best advice your grandfather gave me at your age, which I ignored for ten years and now hand to you.
- Why we chose your name, and the two we nearly chose instead.
- A list of everything you loved at six, in case you've forgotten: the blue cup, the dinosaur song, the long way home.
- I'm recording this at the kitchen table while you do homework across from me, pretending not to listen.
- Today you are legally allowed to ignore me. For the record, here is what I'd say anyway.
- The night you were born, told properly, now that you're old enough for the whole story.
- Whatever you're deciding this year — the course, the job, the person — here's the only thing I'd ask you to check it against.
- Eighteen years ago today you arrived and nothing has been quiet since. Thank you for every bit of it.
A few facts
Questions people ask
Can I record several over the years for the same day?
Yes. That's the natural way to do it: a keepsake every birthday, or whenever something comes to you, each addressed to their 18th. They open them together on the day, in the order you recorded them.
They don't have an email yet. Whose do I use?
A parent's or guardian's, for now. Keepsakes for a child are delivered through the adult you name. When they have their own address, change it on your page; once a year we send you the full list to check, and recipients you've told about their page can keep their own address current.
Ten years is a long time. Will it still be there?
That's the point of choosing a date: nothing depends on anyone remembering. You can download everything you've recorded at any time, we check the addresses with you yearly, and if we ever wound the service down every author would get twelve months' notice and their export.
What if I'm not around when they turn eighteen?
It still goes out on its date, with no one's intervention. The email says when you recorded it and makes no claim about you. We chose dates because they need nobody to verify anything and no one to get a hard call wrong.
Can I change it before the day?
Right up until it's delivered, yes — re-record it, add to it, or delete it. Once it's been opened it's theirs, and can't be changed or recalled.
Can grandparents record one too?
Yes, from their own page; the gift link is the easy way to give them one. A child can have keepsakes waiting from several people, each on its own day or all on the 18th.
What does it cost?
Your first three keepsakes are free. $59 once unlocks unlimited keepsakes and people for good — no renewals, because a keepsake for an 18th birthday might wait a decade. Or someone can give it to you as a gift.
Record the first one today
It takes a minute. You can address it and pick the day later.
By invite during beta