Photographic Memories

Memories are made, time marches on, and things change.  We look back and wonder where the first six months of 2012 have gone.  As we reminisce, we may also wonder how other years have passed so quickly.

Our lives are constantly changing.  Before you know it, you have graduated from high school or college.  Your children are grown, and you are a grandparent.  Maybe you are in a different point in your life and you are downsizing, moving from the home where you raised your family to a smaller, easier to manage residence.

More now than years go, we document our lives in photo.  So what have you done with your photos and other memories?

Before my parents downsized a few years ago, I had begun to gather and organize their photos and other printed memories such as marriage invitations, school graduation programs, and funeral memorial cards.  As they moved, these items seemed to multiple.  I located more in their collection that had been packed away, plus some appeared that previously belonged to both of my grandmothers.  Now the decision arose, what to do with all of these precious memories.

This began an ongoing project, where I am dividing and labeling these items.  When on sale, I went to either A.C. Moore or Michaels and purchased memory boxes in two sizes.  The 12”x12” boxes are great for oversized photos and for items like school graduation programs.  The smaller boxes can hold up to 1000 photos and come with divider cards.

Setting up three different families of boxes (different colors), I am currently pouring over thousand of photos, attempting to label a dozen or two a day.  One set of boxes is for my father’s families, another set for my mother’s, and a set for my parents life together that includes my siblings, and our families.

Since some of the photos were still in the developing envelope, I was able to easily decipher what year they were taken.  Others were not as easily identifiable.  My parents have been able to assist me with some, but there are others that could be relatives who passed long ago or they may have been family friends.  For those that neither my parents nor I could not identify, I scanned and emailed some of the photos to relatives who I knew might be able to assist me in this project.  For some I was able to gain knowledge, others remain as unknown.

After identifying who was in a picture and listing the year and in some instances only the decade, I placed them in the boxes using both the divider cards and also index cards (since there are never enough dividers) standing on end with the year listed.

What I learned from this entire project are some words of wisdom I wish to pass along to anyone who gives photos as memories.

1.      Start labeling your photos now while it’s hot outside – this is an activity that will allow you to sit and keep cool.  Also, the longer you put it off, the more memories that will be created and even forgotten as we age.  I have scanned and backed up many of these memories that I know are irreplaceable like the only know photos of some relatives.

2.      Use a storage method that is also safe for the memories.  A shoebox is a good temporary storage method, but not as safe for long time storage as are the photo memory boxes which are created to be acid free.

3.      Gather these memories in one place.  You may be surprised of what is found in drawers, basements, and attics.  Memories may be damaged due to extreme temperature changes, light, mold, and other environmental factors.

4.      Using a photo safe labeling pencil or pen, identify on the back of your photo the who, what, where, when, and why of the picture.  Do not use a ball point pen, nor write on the front of the photo, nor attach a label as even permanent ones lose their “stickiness” many years later and fall off the photo.

5.      If you give photo Christmas cards; consider putting the year and names on it in the order that the people are standing.

6.      Consider assisting your parents or older relatives in doing this type of a project, because one day you may be the individual who inherits the family treasurers.

As someone who has loved genealogy and putting together the pieces of my family tree, I have come across photos that I never knew existed of relatives who I never met because they passed before I was born.  These organized and labeled treasurers along with my printed family history are a legacy that I can pass down to my niece and nephews.