Are you lucky enough to have inherited old family photos? While that is certainly a blessing, there are a lot of possibilities for additional challenges. Maybe some photos aren't labeled so you don't know who is in the photo. Maybe you have duplicates. Maybe you just have so many photos that the thought of doing something with them is pretty daunting.
One of the biggest motivators, I think, to getting on the ball and getting photos out of boxes and into albums is this: preservation. If they're not preserved properly, photos can kind of decay over time. And you certainly don't want that happening to that box of pictures from your mom. Photos are sensitive to light, heat, and humidity (and water), as well as whatever is touching them. Photos in a box in the attic are a ticking time bomb, so to speak. Remember those magnetic photo albums from the 1970s? Turns out the acids those pages were made of actually eat up pictures over time. I'd like to help! Getting those photos out of boxes not only preserves them but allows them to be shared. What would photos of your grandparents mean to your children or nieces/nephews? What about to your siblings? They would be eternal gifts!
I published three articles about dealing with inherited photos that can help:
The first one, {"Negatives, Old Photos, and Boxes, Oh My!"} has several great resources for identifying old photos, some suggestions for negatives and slides, and tips on how to preserve old photos well.
The second one, {"Helps for Dating Nineteenth Century Photos"} dives into various types of photos, from tintypes to cabinet cards, which can help you come up with approximate dates for those precious photos in your keep.
To read each one, just click the links! These articles will help you as you sort through your treasured photos. If you need some organizational help, there are some good tips {right here at this link}.
It’s {estimated} that we take 1.2 trillion pictures a
year, and 85% of them are taken on smartphones! We all know that taking a
picture is really easy, but what about getting that digital image into a form
where it can be seen more readily?
As
you know from previous #familyhistoryfriday articles, {accumulating a stockpile of photos isn’t really the goal}.
Having gigabytes upon gigabytes of photos that remain untouched and
unappreciated don’t do the heart and soul good– seeing those photos does. The whole point of taking a picture is to
see it, not to store it.
We’ve all mastered Step 1: how to take a digital
picture. Now let’s conquer Step 2: how to see those pictures from our
phones and cameras.
Decide
on a Home for Your Photos First
Where
you want your photos and memories to live will determine the right way for you
to get your photos off your phone. While a traditional photo album from a
local store is certainly one method for preserving your pictures and the
stories that go with them, there are a lot of options.
heirloom-quality digital books, scrap pages, and other digital products {available here}
In
March, we explored four additional ways here at #familyhistoryfriday which can help you decide, plus I
have two more bonus options to share with you. These vary by style, cost,
creativity, and time. I suggest looking at each
of these six methods to see what works for you. In most
of these links, I actually give recommendations on who would like each method.
Digital Storybooking, which– like digital scrap pages
–allow you to skip the extra step of printing digital photos before putting them in an album, and the books are heirloom quality
Yearbooks which are a simplified version of heirloom-quality digital storybooking, complete with a method to help you really pare down and get a handle on all. those. pictures. (I love this method and recommend it to anyone who is overwhelmed with their photos!)
Traditional Paper Scrapbooking, great for those who
like hands-on memory-keeping
Simple Digital Photo Books–and I recommend this company
because the quality of the products is much higher than the run-of-the-mill
online photobook company (like options 3 & 4) but with a cleaner and more simple look, plus the ability to click a button and "auto-fill" pages in your book
Each
of these methods has their own perks, so choose something that fits your
style, available time, and budget the best. Most of all, though, love
it. I always say, “If you don’t love it, you won’t do it,” so find
something you can get excited about. Looking
forward to sitting down and putting your photos in a HOME
and jotting down some memories of them is a great way to help you DO IT.
Memory-keeping is cathartic and is an excellent method of self-care!
There are additional benefits to it, too, like increased
happiness and a greater sense of purpose!
Did You Choose a Printed
Photograph or Digital Photo Product?
You
may have noticed that each of those six options, along with the regular photo album
from a local store, all fall into one of two categories: a product that
you’ll put printed photos into, or an all-in-one (a digital product that is
printed with your digital pictures already in it).
If
you choose pocket pages or traditional
scrapbooking as the home for your photos and memories, you will first need to print your photos so you’ll have physical
pictures in your hands. If you choose digital
storybooking, simple digital photo books, or digital scrap pages, you will already be printing your photos in a product. So I’ll show you how to print your photos both ways.
If you also want to save your photos onto your computer–which I recommend–be sure you don’t miss the #familyhistoryfriday post from two weeks ago, {How to Get Your Pictures Off Your Phone}.
To save them offsite (outside your house, for safety), the best online photo and video storage I've ever seen is right here--and I call it "best" because it's private (some storage services reserve rights to sell your photos) and permanent (some storage services reserve rights to delete your photos).
How to Print (Physical) Photo Prints
Various big box stores and drug stores have photo processing centers, and all of them allow you to upload photos online.
Or use Forever (which is that "best photo and video storage" I just mentioned--print them in a snap at the same place your storing them). You can even Order Photo Prints from your Phone. With Forever, you can even edit your photos once they're uploaded in your Forever account. I made a little video about that for you here:
Once your photos are printed, you can put your photo prints in albums, pocket pages, or traditional scrapbooking.
How
to Print Photos in a Digital Product Instead
If
your preferred method isn’t a hands-on memory-keeping one, you get to skip a
step! Printing your digital photos IN a digital product is a pretty cool and simple way to do things.
If you choose to preserve your photos in the digital storybook or digital scrap pages I suggested (options 2, 3, and 4), Photo & Story Treasures recommends these four impressive heirloom-quality options. Look around and see what you love--I love that there's something for everyone.
Digital storybooking (left) and digital scrap pages (right) are wonderful options for preserving photos and memories, and both are available in multiple sizes {here}.
If you chose this
digital method because you will love it, then you’ll have a great time
doing it! I always say, "If you don't love it, you won't do it." Choose a method you will love!
Why
It’s Important
Getting
your photos off your phone is really important! In a world without as
much face-to-face contact as we once had, connecting
with your own life experiences is a way to {stay emotionally healthy}.
Every
picture you’ve taken means something. You felt that THAT moment should be
captured. You wanted to remember the experience, the view, the person,
the occasion. So letting the picture rot on
your phone like yesterday’s garbage doesn’t do it the justice it deserves.
It doesn’t honor your desire to preserve that moment of your life.
Seeing
your photos is what makes them matter.
#dontletyourbabiesgrowuptobejpegs
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This
post was originally published at www.livegrowgive.org on May 25, 2018, by Jennifer
Wise. Find more #familyhistoryfriday posts about memories, photos, stories, connections, and family by clicking the hashtag below next to Labels.
Do you know any women who rock? This year Dr. Ruxandra LeMay started an inspiring series on her blog looking at women of influence. (If you are a woman, you are a woman of influence--trust me!) I "met" Dr. LeMay through a bloggers Facebook group, and I was so honored when she asked to interview me for her series!
I talk about stepping outside your comfort zone, motherhood, running with YOUR strengths, balancing responsibilities, why being over 40 is great, and why pictures and memories really matter--basically what I've learned from life and business!
I hope this article is inspiring to many women in many stages of life! I hope you find some great nuggets from it that you can use every day. Enjoy! You can find the article here: http://ruxandralemay.com/women-who-rock-jennifer-wise/# UPDATE 2021: Since this interview, Photo and Story Treasures also recommends another high-quality photo preservation and storage company. In addition to Heritage Makers, Forever is an additional top-quality choice you will love with additional perks such as digitizing services (VHS to digital, scanning, etc.) and permanent, private photo storage.
As we talk about photos this month
on #familyhistoryfriday, it’s important to talk specifically about how to
organize both printed and digital photos.
Organizing printed (physical)
photos requires a good strategy, but digital photos are a whole new
animal. We just didn’t take thousands upon thousands of photos back when
we used film. In fact, you’ll sometimes see me mention people I meet who
have a terabyte (or more) worth of digital photos on their computers. A
terabyte can hold {2,000,000} photos. Two million. So
organizing digital photos really is imperative simply because we have so many
of them!
Let me help with some steps on HOW to organize your photos.
UPDATE: You can find this same information plus a lot of additional helps at my new video series:
organizing and decluttering
storing and preserving photos (and why they're not the same thing)
strategies for consistency
Declutter
First
After
the first important step of {setting aside time for your photos} and honoring
your own appointment with yourself, it’s time to declutter. (If you need
help getting your pictures off your phone and onto your computer, {last week’s post} will help you out. There’s
a quick video tutorial, even.) On the first #familyhistoryfriday this
month, I outlined {three main elements of decluttering} your photos:
Get
rid of garbage photos (your finger, the floor, blurry photos).
Really
consider how many photos you need to keep that don’t have people in them.
(You already know what the White House looks like.)
Get
rid of duplicates. (In the olden days, we would order double
prints. With digital photos, we can sometimes take about 10 shots that
are basically the same. Duplicates. Just keep one.)
This
is a good place to start, but if you missed the original post about {decluttering your photos}, be sure you click the link
and head on over. There are some important,
preemptive tips on decluttering your digital photos to begin with so you don’t have to do
it later. You’ll also find a little dose of reality
and perspective that can be rather motivating!
Organizing
Physical (Printed) Photos
Organizing
photos that have already been printed can feel overwhelming because you
can see how much physical space they take up–one box,
four boxes. Digital photos are a little sneakier that way. Although
I mostly deal with digital photos in my everyday life, I have had to organize
boxes of physical photos.
Before
my mom passed away, she left me a few boxes of mementos and keepsakes that
included quite a few photos. So believe me when I say that looking at
boxes of photos can be overwhelming. Here are the steps I suggest for
organizing physical (printed) photos:
Put
the boxes in a place where you can spread out as you organize. You will
need physical space.
Go
through the boxes with not more than a glance, just to get an idea of what
you’ve got. Are we talking pictures from 1940-2010, or are all the pictures
just from the 1960s and 1970s?
Get
containers, one for each decade you’re dealing with. Label them with
sticky notes for each decade. The containers don’t need to be fancy
because they’re temporary–shoeboxes and tupperware will do.
Begin
organizing. Only organize by decade at first. Put all the pictures
from 1980 in the container with the sticky note “1980,” and so on.
Once
everything is sorted into decades, you’ll now just work with one decade.
Get 10 large envelopes (manila envelopes) for that decade. Label each
envelope with one year: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, etc. Then organize
everything from the decade container into the specific year envelope.
Take
a break if you need to! Work with a friend or family member! But
enjoy reminiscing or discovering new gems.
Repeat
through all the decades until you’re done.
Remember
that organizing photos isn’t the same thing as preserving them. (Keep
reading…)
For example, I transformed my mom’s box of cherished mementos
into {a beautiful life storybook} that we all love, especially now that she's gone. I sometimes read through it when I miss her.
What
To Do With File Names
With
film, you had a negative and a printed photo from it. That’s it.
With digital photos, though, you have a name to deal with. That’s because
each photo has a file name that has nothing to do with anything at all about the photo except the order in which it was
taken. Because photos come out being called “IMG_624” instead of “beach
trip 2015 with Bob and Sue; our first stop at the tide pools,” people often ask
me what to do with file names.
Now,
if you’ve been hanging out at #familyhistoryfriday for any length of time, you
know that {a photo loses half its value if it doesn’t have its story with it}.
A photo of Bob and Sue on their 2015 beach trip, stopping at the tide pools, is
only valuable if you know that’s
Bob and Sue at the tide pools in 2015. Right? If it’s a couple of
people you may or may not have ever seen doing something at a beach, who cares?
So
you might think that I would suggest that you add some details to the file
names.
BUT DON’T!!!
This just makes them harder to
find. If
you have 100 photos from the Bob and Sue trip, you might call some of them “Bob
and Sue trip” or “Oregon Coast trip” or “2015 beach” or any number of other
things. Even if you remember to stay consistent with your photo names,
what if you take an “Oregon Coast trip” every year? What if you go back
to find those photos in 5 years and you can’t actually remember what you named
them?
Leave
the file names alone. Your computer will automatically “alphabetize”
files (which, in this case, places them in chronological order). It’s the
easiest way to find things (unless you are a metadata guru).
(Again, if you’re already a pro at renaming, using metadata, and all that, this "don't rename" advice doesn’t
apply to you.Most of us aren’t.)
The
Only Exception
The
only exception to the “leave the file names alone” rule is if you have photos
from different sources. For example, I take most photos on my camera
because I often like the landscape (far away) shots and close up shots.
My phone doesn’t do as well in those situations, but does better than my camera
for selfies and low light situations.
My camera calls photos DSCN_1111
while my phone calls them IMG_1111. If I go to the tide pools and take
pictures with both my camera and my phone (which often happens), then when I
put them on my computer, they won’t be together. Some will be DSCN and
some will be IMG. This will make them harder to find in the future
because they will be separated and I may not remember that they belong
together.
Here's what I do to solve that issue.
After
I upload my photos from my camera and my phone to my computer, I rename some of
them so that they will fall in line (alphabetical order) to keep them in
chronological order. If I’m humming along uploading my camera photos
(DSCN_1111, DSCN_1112, DSCN_1113) to my computer and find a photo from my
camera that chronologically belongs in the middle of those, I’ll rename it from
IMG_1111 to become now DSCN_1112a. This will put it in alphabetical order
on my computer between DSCN_1112 and DSCN_1113.
You'll see exactly what I mean in this video--you can watch me actually do this process. I show you in person through a video screen share exactly what I’ve written here–exactly how I organize my digital photos. Organization is KEY in how I stay caught up preserving them.:
Organize
Using Dated Folders
This is a sure-fire way to be
able to find digital photos! Without folders, your photos are just an
unending sea of digital images. I suggest first creating year folders
(so: 2012 pictures, 2013 pictures, 2014 pictures, etc.) Within each
folder, add month folders (so: January 2012, February 2012, etc.) I
used to just leave it at that unless a lot happened within a given month, but
now I add another layer of organization. I add folders per event.
So, for example, if you click on my 2012 pictures folder, then my February 2012
folder, you’ll see folders that say “Las Vegas trip,” “school concert,” etc.
And
I’m telling you, using this method means you can find anything as long as you
can remember approximately when it happened. It’s so much easier than
swimming through an endless sea of digital images! It narrows down where you will
look. It gives clear organization to the myriad life events and moments
we preserve on camera.
Which
brings us to the whole point.
Preserving
Your Photos, Not Just Organizing Them
Organizing
photos is really important so you know what’s where, but that’s not the end
goal. Photos must come out of digital form in order to be seen and
loved. I call that preserving your photos. You STORE your photos on your computer or hard drive, but you
PRESERVE them by printing them.
Here’s why: You need to remember why
you took the picture. You need to tell its story. You really can’t
do that with a file. Printing your photo and then writing details and
memories next to it is what makes it a valuable, even priceless, photo. Besides, {technology is so fickle} (hello, remember floppy disks?) that it's not a great place to trust your photos. You never know what will change or what will crash. So preserve pictures (and memories) by printing them!
So once your digital photos are organized, you can print them the old-fashioned way and put them in photo albums, or traditional scrapbooks.
Or you can sort of
combine the two–print your photos IN an actual product, rather than printing
them and then physically putting them in a product. For digital printing
and publishing, whether in books or scrap pages, I use and recommend {these companies} for heirloom-quality print products and private photo storage (both being more rare than they should be, in my opinion).
Whatever method you
choose, just be sure you are trusting your precious photos and memories to
quality products.
Organizing digital photos is
important, but only so they can be preserved in a tactile way for hands, eyes,
and hearts to enjoy.
#dontletyourbabiesgrowuptobejpegs
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This
post was originally published at www.livegrowgive.org on May 18, 2018, by
Jennifer Wise. Find more #familyhistoryfriday posts about photos, memories, stories, connections, and family by clicking the hashtag below next to Labels.
Pictures are the focus of this
month’s #familyhistoryfriday, and today we’ll look at one of the most basic
photo obstacles: getting them off your phone.
In the last 10 years
or so, photos taken on a phone have come a long way. Back then, the
grainy image was not really worth a second glance, but today I can take better
quality photos with my phone than I could on the first digital camera I
owned! With increasing memory capabilities on phones and better quality,
the phone is a common way to take photos these days. And because phones
are in our pockets, it’s easy to take a lot of photos with them. But now
what?
Why
Do I Need to Get My Pictures off My Phone?
We’ve
all heard a story of someone dropping their phone in a swimming pool, ocean,
toilet, fish tank, etc. In fact, about {36 million smartphones are ruined by water each year}.
(That’s about 11%.) Shockingly, about {70 million smartphones are lost or stolen each year}.
(That’s about 20%.) Combine those two numbers, and we’re talking about
1/3 of smartphone users who have an irreparable issue with their phones!
I don’t know about you, but I turn my old phone in for a new one every two
years when my contract is up. Theoretically, everything should transfer
over from one phone to another, but it doesn’t always. (Lost all my music
that way once.)
This doesn’t mean your phone
isn’t a good place to take a picture, it just means it isn’t a good place to store a picture.
Now,
that second article I just referenced also says that a laptop is stolen every
53 seconds! (gulp) So although we are talking specifically today
about how to get your pictures off your phone, remember getting them off your phone isn’t the end
goal. The real goal is to get them into printed form.
Moving your jpeg digital photo files from being stored on your
phone to being stored on your computer or flash drive is still storage.
Whatever {digital photo storage method} you have, those
photos are only STORED, not seen.
Storage, by definition, is
putting something away–it’s not using it! Seeing a photo
is what makes it precious. Remember that! You don't actually WANT photo storage! You took the picture so you could see it. {Digital photo storage is a backup, not a goal.}
How
Do I Get My Pictures Off My Phone?
I
can’t tell you how many people I have talked to who really want to preserve
their pictures in high-quality completely customizable {digital books or scrap pages} but sheepishly admit that they don’t
know how to get their photos off their phones.
If that’s you, don’t
worry! I’m here to help with that today.
I just made a video for you! This little 5-minute tutorial
goes over the most basic method of getting your pictures from your phone to
your computer. I even show you my screen so you can see how it works.
What
Do I Do After I Get My Pictures Off My Phone?
As I
mentioned earlier, getting pictures off your phone is important, but just hoarding them doesn’t do anything for us. Seeing the pictures is how they get appreciated and loved and remembered. If you never see them, they can’t {increase your happiness}, or any number of other {benefits of memory-keeping}.
"The
sheer volume and lack of organization of digital photos for personal memories discourages
many people from accessing and reminiscing about them. In order to remember, we
have to access and interact with the photos, rather than just amass them.”
-Linda Henkel, psychological scientist
So
once you’ve learned that all-important step of how to get your photos off your
phone, make sure you do something more with them! You can find some {great options here} that are higher quality than the typical "photo books" you see advertised and have a lot more perks.
Photo experts recommend storing photos two ways digitally (one on-site, at home, and one off-site, in the cloud) and one way in print. This is the best off-site/cloud option I've ever seen, and this one-minute video is a wonderful analogy:
Whatever you do,
#dontletyourbabiesgrowuptobejpegs
Pin to save and share!
This
post was originally published at www.livegrowgive.org on May 11, 2018, by
Jennifer Wise. It was updated in 2024. Find more #familyhistoryfriday posts about pictures, memories, stories, connection, and family by clicking the hashtag below next to Labels.
Today's post comes from Carol Stewart of Capture by Carol. I was fortunate enough to "meet" Carol online a year or so ago. We are definitely kindred spirits! Carol has a passion for family stories and history. She is the Family Historian in her family. Carol is an advanced amateur photographer who loves to capture moments in the lives of her family and friends. She has been using those captured moments (aka: pictures!) to create beautiful storybooks, home decor, etc., for over 20 years.
I love Carol's perspective on memories here. They really are what make up our humanity, and we really do need help making them last. Read and be inspired!
We are not who we are simply because we think.
We are who we are because we can remember
what we have thought about. ~Larry R. Squire & Eric R. Kandel from
“Memory, From Mind to Molecules.”
Memories are what connect
us. Have you ever thought about that?.What if you didn’t have a memory of the
people you loved? What if the people who love you didn't remember you? A relationship cannot be sustained without memory. Think about the movie Groundhog Day, where Phil Connors re-lives the same day over and over again. Phil remembers every re-lived day, but everyone else he knows lives that
same day for the very first time, every time! He's very lonely, and he
has to start his relationships all over without any foundation beyond the past 24 hours.
In a relationship between two people, both of them need to have memory to grow the relationship.A solid relationship foundation is built on
memories.Memory diseases
like Alzheimer’s are so devastating because one person loses the ability to retain memories of their relationship with the other person.I have experienced the effects of this awful
disease in my own life and it is truly devastating for all parties involved.
“Every
thought we have, every word we speak, every action we engage in- indeed, our
very sense of self and our sense of connectedness
to others – we owe to our memory,
to the ability of our brains to record and store our experiences.Memory is the glue that binds our mental
life, the scaffolding that holds our personal history and that makes it
possible to grow and change throughout life. When memory is lost, as in
Alzheimer’s disease, we lose the ability to re-create our past, and as a
result, we lose our connection with ourselves and with others.”~Larry R. Squire & Eric R. Kandel from
“Memory, From Mind to Molecules.”
Relationship and community are why we exist in the first place!God created us for relationships and community, and through our relationships with Him and others, we glorify Him. Imagine how hard it would be to fulfill our purpose without memories. Memories connect us to each other.
We even set aside holidays for remembering! Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Christmas, and Easter are all days set aside specifically for remembering.
Memories connect us by helping us to understand
who we are.It's important to understand your
place in history in the context of your family and your ancestors.Understanding your context brings clarity to
who you are and where you came from. In 10th grade, I
did a project on my family genealogy. I was assigned to do a family tree, so my grandma gave me a lot of her family records. Of course, I still have them to this day! I created a huge poster board, and when I brought it to class I was the only one with a huge poster board. Everyone else had one 8.5x11 sheet of paper. I stuck out.(What 10th grader wants to stick out?J ) Needless to say, my
teacher talked about my project that entire school year because he was so
impressed with how much work I did. (Truth be told, I did all that work because I
thought that was the assignment!) From that project, I gained a love for family history and genealogy.
When my mom's cousin
learned about that project, she sent me a huge genealogy record of our family. She
gave me panels and panels of 8 ½ by 11 sheets of paper taped together to make
up a poster bigger than a queen size sheet. Through this project I learned
many stories about my ancestors; who they were, the struggles they overcame, what their temperament was, etc. It helped
me understand where I came from and who I was, and it gave me a great sense of belonging and family pride.This documentation of my family history brought me closer to those that
had come before me, even those I had never met in person.It gave me a sense of security. That's what memories do to connect us. (I’m
currently in the process of documenting all those memories and will eventually
put together a Heritage Makers storybook and include some old photos my aunt
found).
Memories connect us by deepening the existing
bonds. That 10th grade genealogy project inspired me many years later as my parents’ 50th wedding
anniversary was approaching. I created a legacy storybook for my parents.It took me a year to gather all the stories
and photos (I had to scan most of them as they were film photos) but it was the
most rewarding storybook I have created to date. This storybook captured the story of their
lives together. My parents loved it. Watching my parents read that storybook together and bond
as they re-lived all their memories together
was priceless to me! My parents read that book over and over again. That Christmas, I gave that storybook to each of my siblings, which they cherish.That’s one of the things I love about making digital books: you can easily order multiple copies. Rather than making multiple copies like you would with a paper scrapbook, you simply push the “add to cart" button! Easy Peasy!
When my mother passed away
in January 2018, we had a table at her memorial with pictures
displayed, a slide show running on a loop, and the 50th wedding
anniversary storybook.When people
walked over to the table the first thing they did was to pick up that
storybook and read through it.The slide
show was nice, but the storybook was something special--it was tangible and could be picked up and read at
one's own pace. Another reason the storybook was such a draw is that it contained the history and the memories in the form of
written words that went along with the photos, not just pictures only.The most compliments I received from the display were about the
storybook.People loved looking through
that beautiful Heritage Makers storybook.
We just completed our production of "She Loves Me!" at my daughter’s school.I had several duties, including document the production through photos.I took photos at all the dress rehearsals. I printed 120 photos for display on opening night, and I had a slideshow, too.People enjoyed the slideshow, but those
printed pictures received the most attention, especially among the teenagers in
the cast.They just don’t see printed
pictures like we did growing up! They all wanted printed copies of the pictures because they wanted to hang them up in their rooms to remember this special bonding event they had all participated in together. (I
assured them that they would be getting a link to all my pictures but they
still competed for those printed versions!) From this experience, I'm even more convinced that printed
versions of our memories are more treasured and enjoyed then digital versions.
Memories connect us by rekindling old bonds. I have lots of cousins on both sides of my family, and when I
was younger they were my best friends. They were like my siblings. We have lots of
pictures from family trips and other events. Growing up I took that for granted, thinking everyone had this experience. There was a time
that we were all inseparable but as we grew up and started having children of
our own, life got busy and the gatherings were less and less.
Then my aunt died. We all gathered at her
funeral saw pictures displayed along with a slideshow of many family gatherings. Seeing those photos again reconnected us and reminded
us of our history together. It brought us all closer and we made a
commitment to keep in touch. We saw our memories in the form of photos and rekindled our bond. Two years later, another
aunt died. Then her husband, my dad’s brother, died a month and a half
later. A week and a half after my uncle’s passing, my mom passed away. It was a
tragic season of loss.What did we, my cousins and I, all do?We
went through picture after picture after picture and gathered them all up and
displayed them at each of the funeral services in the form of slideshows and
framed photos and even some Heritage Makers storybooks. Why did we do
that? The funeral services honored our loved ones’ lives, and those photos represented their beautiful lives. The photos also represented our memories, our
history with our loved ones and each other. It both connected us and honored
our loved ones.Those pictures
represented the deep bonds our loved ones had cultivated which we continue
to enjoy today. If you think about it, those are the bonds that contribute to our health and wellbeing
and keep us mentally healthy.
I am so very thankful that my mom and my aunts knew the importance of maintaining a photographic history. My mom and my aunts were
good at keeping family albums and even writing on or near the photos.Because they were so
careful to record our photographic history, we have a legacy to pass on to the
generations that follow us. If you don’t
have this kind of history recorded in your own family I highly encourage you to
start today.Future generations will be
impacted by it and will be thankful for your efforts.Create a lasting
legacy with a free publishing and storage account at http://capturebycarol.com/.
Sometimes our memories are not accurate. Are there photos you don't like or might not have understood the importance of when they were first taken? A change in perspectives can alter the recall
experience of a photo, so going through old photos every few years can be
helpful to your health and well-being. Let me give you an example.
When I was about 8 or 9 years old, someone took a picture of me with my siblings,
friends and cousins in our backyard.We
had just gotten out of the pool. My mom developed the picture and put it into our family album. I
remember the bad feeling I had: “oh my goodness I'm so fat.” But I look back on that picture
now and realize that my initial reaction was ridiculous!I wasn't fat! I was just right. When I look at that picture now, my focus is not on my body image but on the
relationships in that picture.I see a beautiful day with my beloved friends and family!The passage of time almost makes it feel like I am seeing those pictures for the first time, from a different perspective. The photo jogs my memory back to a more accurate perspective and an accurate memory. Reflecting on those photos and the memories that go with them
deepens my bond with my family and friends.A photo I once hated looking at is now one of my most favorites!(I try to remind my children of this concept
when they give me grief over some of the pictures I take of them today!)
Memories Connect Us:Memories connect us by helping us to understand who we are, by deepening
our bonds with others and by rekindling old bonds. Stay connected to those memories with a beautiful storybook.Start your connection today at http://capturebycarol.com/.
How to protect those
memories that connect us:
Record your memories in a Storybook:Photos and the memories that go with those
photos help facilitate retaining those memories and as a result, those
relationships are deepened and grow.Photos and the memories that go with those photos help keep an accurate
picture of our history.Memory isn’t
always reliable so it’s important to record the memories as soon as possible
for a more accurate history.
Once you have recorded
your memories and created a beautiful storybook, order one for
yourself and give away multiple copies as gifts!The boost in self-esteem you will have generated
in the person who receives your lovely gift will be well worth the reasonable cost!
