Sun City resident Jim Hanekamp has designed a new app called Sharemystories, focused on preserving memories using photos, written word, and audioclips in a timeline format.
Hanekamp, 66, grew up outside of Chicago in a large family. During the pandemic, the six adult siblings, separated by geography, enjoyed regular Zoom calls to reminisce about family vacations and forgotten family lore.
“I started thinking about the things we’ve done and realized, I haven’t really captured these things anywhere,” says Hanekamp. His own children and grandchildren seemed to be foggy on significant details of his life, too.
“They’d say, ‘I never realized you were a paramedic or grew up in a funeral home!’ and I’d say, ‘I know I told you guys this!’”
The app allows users to upload photos and stories from their own life and attach a date to it so that they can be sorted into a timeline, which can be kept private or shared with others at the user’s discretion.
Hanekamp, who works for the Oracle Corporation, has an extensive tech background and collaborated with teams from Brazil, the Czech Republic, and India to create the app. He previously dabbled in app development in 2008 when he came up with online games designed to sharpen memory, influenced by seeing his mother gradually succumb to Alzheimer’s.
Hanekamp feels Facebook uses too many ads, which is why his app is ad-free and puts the user in charge of who can see what. “Maybe I want to share something with my friends, but not my kids,” he says. “It’s important to me that you be in control of the security.”
Hanekamp wants Sharemystories to be a positive thing, a place where highlights and cherished memories can be captured and preserved for posterity. Hanekamp hopes that a place to review happy memories all in one place can help lift the spirits of those who suffer from depression, or just need a reminder of the good things in their life.
Even Hanekamp’s dog, a collie, uses Sharemystories. “Some people use it for their pets,” he says. “They want to track their dog from the time they’re a little foot-long puppy to growing up to be 70 pounds.”
Despite the busy times we live in, Hanekamp hopes that his app will make it worth the time to upload memories of parties, weddings, and favorite family events that build a life. “I figure people who live in Del Webb who are retired might have the time,” he says. Collecting those memories and sharing them with their children and grandchildren may open up important conversations that could pull families closer.
“You’ve got to do it while you can remember,” he says. Let’s face it … a lot of people begin to lose certain memories. It’s hard to remember what we did and how we felt when we were 30, 40, or 50 years old.”
Download Sharemystories as an app (iOS, Android) or use it on the web at sharemystories.com. To see short videos that demonstrates Sharemystories and all its features, visit the Sharemystories YouTube page.
