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Whitehouse man teaches community to 'document their own life’s story'

"Documenting who you were" is an initiative to show your descendants who you were, rather than only when and where you lived.

WHITEHOUSE, Texas — How do you want to be remembered when you’re gone? John Moore, a Whitehouse resident, is on a mission to make sure everyone’s story is told, exactly how they want it to be.

"I would call this a crusade," Moore said. "I am on a crusade to reach as many people as I can to document their own life’s story."

Moore set sail with this idea at his grandmother's funeral in 2010. 

"She was able to tell her own story at her own funeral,” he said.

Credit: Shandel Menezes

"Ancestry.com and 123 and the other DNA services are wonderful [to get to know when/ where your ancestors lived], but you really don’t know a lot about personalities unless someone wrote it down,” Moore said.

Moore suggests that people should gather information as they move through life — pictures, records and even written accounts. These snippets of life tell a person's story further than data.

You are, Moore said, in control of your own story. 

Moore runs an audio booth out of his home in Whitehouse that is open by appointment for people to come by and tell their stories. He asks that appointments be made through his website

But, he emphasizes, it doesn't take fancy audio booths or recording equipment to tell a person's story. All people need is a story —  and maybe a pencil.

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