Our father died when I was two.

My brother Jesse and I built 4everbe. He’s the eldest of eight children; I’m the youngest, eighteen years behind him. Our father died of a heart attack at forty-eight, and left our mother with the eight of us.

All I have of my dad is a few photographs. There is no film of him anywhere. No greeting for a birthday. No way to hear his voice. Everything I know about him, other people had to give me.

Once I asked Jesse — you grew up with him. Do you still remember a lot? He said yes, so many memories. But one thing was gone, even for him.

He can’t remember our father’s voice.

That is the whole reason this exists.

We didn’t build this to get rich. We built it so your family will always have what ours never had — a place to go back to.

I was the two-year-old in that story. I have three children of my own now. Someday my time will be up, and when it is, I want them to be able to introduce me to the people who come after — family I’ll never get to meet.

This is us doing what we wish someone had done for us. Out of love for our family, and for every family that loves theirs. Let’s teach the next generation.