Legacy Log is a narrative medicine initiative pairing high school student volunteers with local seniors — listening deeply, recording faithfully, and transforming living stories into permanent archives of wisdom.
Our first Legacy Log books
are being written now.
We're Sayesha and Samaya. We're sisters, we go to Carroll High School, and we started Legacy Log because we wanted to do something real for our community. Honestly, the idea came from just looking around at how we all live right now.
As teenagers, we're always on our phones, scrolling through what everyone else is doing around the world — but we realized we were completely missing the incredible people living right next door to us. Our senior neighbors have spent decades building families, learning about life, and creating the culture we live in today, but nobody is really asking them to share those memories anymore. We wanted to change that.
So we started Legacy Log to bring local high schoolers and our older neighbors together to just sit down, talk, and preserve those legacies before they're lost.
Sisters, students, and storytellers — rooted in Southlake, TX, and driven by the belief that every elder carries a universe of lived experience worth preserving for generations to come.
It's amazing what happens when you actually slow down and focus on a real human connection. Right now, our goal is to sit down with seniors above 60 in our area and gather 30 life stories — then compile everything into a beautiful, permanent book and send a copy to everyone who shared their journey with us.
In a society where it's so easy to just turn to a screen, we desperately need real conversations again. For the seniors we visit, it means the world to know that their stories and experiences still matter — that someone is genuinely asking, genuinely listening, and genuinely moved.
For their families, a completed Legacy Log is a keepsake they will cherish forever — a compass for grandchildren who never got to ask, a blueprint of resilience passed down in the most intimate possible form. These are the stories that hold families together across generations.
For us students, this work pulls us out of our own little bubbles and teaches us how to be better, more empathetic neighbors. We're just making sure these incredible lives aren't forgotten — one story at a time. And in the process, we become more human ourselves.
A four-step lifecycle — from introduction to lasting archive — designed with care at every stage.
Student volunteers are thoughtfully matched with local Southlake seniors through our partner network of community and senior centers. We take care to pair personalities and interests for the most meaningful possible exchange.
At the heart of our method is the guided, empathetic interview — rooted in the principles of narrative medicine. Students arrive not as journalists, but as witnesses. Sessions are recorded with permission, guided by thoughtful prompts, and held at a pace that honors the speaker.
Recordings are lovingly transformed into beautifully structured digital "logs" — organized by theme, enriched with photographs where available, and formatted into a permanent archive that is both readable and deeply personal.
The completed Legacy Log is formally presented as a gift to the senior and their family — a ceremony as intentional as the process itself. This moment of celebration honors the courage it takes to share one's story and the grace of being truly seen.
You don't need us to start preserving a story that matters to you. Use these 10 guided questions to sit down with a grandparent, parent, neighbor, or elder in your life — then send us the responses and we'll turn them into a beautiful bound book.
What do you consider to be the most pivotal decision of your life, and how did it shape your path?
Can you describe a major historical event that you lived through, and how it personally impacted you?
What is an accomplishment you are most proud of, big or small?
If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be?
How have your values or definitions of "success" changed as you've gotten older?
What has been the hardest obstacle you've faced, and how did you find the strength to get through it?
How did you meet the most important people in your life — partners, best friends, mentors?
What does the word "family" mean to you?
What role has your community or friendships played in your life journey?
When people think of you in the future, what are the core values or traits you hope they remember most?
What is a hope or dream you have for the next generations of our family or community?
If you had to summarize your philosophy on life in just a few words, what would it be?
Conduct the interview at home, record the answers however works best for you — written notes, a voice memo, a video — then submit them here. Sayesha and Samaya will personally review every submission and reach out to discuss turning it into a Legacy Log book for your family.
Sayesha or Samaya will be in touch soon to talk through next steps for your book.
Legacy Log grows through community — through students who show up, seniors who share, and organizations who believe that intergenerational connection is worth protecting. There is a role here for you.
High school students interested in joining the next cohort of Legacy Log interviewers. No prior experience needed — just empathy and commitment.
If you are a Southlake senior — or know one — with a life story worth preserving, we would be honored to sit with you and listen. Your life is a living archive.
We partner with local Southlake organizations to identify participants and host interview sessions. We handle the process — you connect us with the people who matter.
Connect with us to have a story — yours, a grandparent's, or a loved one's — professionally archived and beautifully bound.
Sayesha or Samaya will reach out to you personally, very soon. Your story — and your support — means everything.