After presenting the tribute gift, ask the guest of honor to read each and every tribute aloud so everyone can hear them.
This is really important. If they just read the tributes to themselves they will lose out on the added intensity of experiencing everyone else's emotions in addition to their own. And the guests will lose out as well.
If they don't want to read out loud then ask someone else to read them or you read them out loud yourself. Don't even ask if its OK with your special someone. The tribute gift is on the internet exposed to the world to see anyway. There's no privacy issue, its publicly displayed.
Of course, the probability of anyone seeing this web page without being invited to do so is very unlikely.
If they don't want to read their tributes aloud its probably not because of privacy. Its something silly like they are embarrassed, or they think they may cry, or they can't see so well, or they're scared of computers, who knows. Its unlikely they will object to someone else reading out loud. So go ahead and make sure this happens. Its an important part of the whole experience.
About Me
- Tribute A Gift
- I wanted to do something special for my father's 80th birthday. I decided to make a tribute to him like my sister-in-law Robin did for her mother. Robin collected thoughts and good wishes from people who knew her mother Shirley and printed them on decorated paper.
Lots of us gathered at Shirley's house and we had a very special time. Shirley read them aloud and our hearts were touched in a powerful way. Especially Robin and Shirley.
This is what I wanted for my father. Except I did it on the web. And it could not have worked out better. My mother caught my eye while my father was reading his tributes and mouthed the words "this is the best thing you've done IN YOUR LIFE".
We occasionally laughed and cried as dad read each of his tributes. We had an evening we'll never forget. I was happy I could make my father feel so special, and proud of myself for putting it together.
Weeks later, my mother suggested I might help other people experience the same profound and warm emotions that we enjoyed with my father. And that's why I created "Tribute A Gift".
See TributeAGift.com for more.