Family Photos

When it comes to family mementos? Well, let's just say that I'm a packrat! My dad was and my mom is still. And I thank them for the gene that carried that along to me.

One present - but also a problem is that I've got - well - somewhere in the 4 digit numbers - of personal and family photographs in my possession. Gazillions more in photo albums and scrapbooks at my mom's house.

Some of the black and white photos from the 1920s are silvering before my very eyes. Color photos from the 1970s are turning red before my very eyes.

I've got orignial one-of-a-kind photos, original 35 mm slides and 35 mm filmstrips.

This visual image part of my heritage is now in my keeping. And so, I have to find every last one of them I've got squirreled away hither and yon. I've recently gotten some archival safe boxes so I'm stashing the photos there as I locate them - discarding the outer (acidic) store envelopes.

Luckily, the Library of Congress has a GREAT set of reference pages - with info on how to safely protect and preserve all kinds of family mementos - including photos. You can see the whole list of topics here

So many one of a kind photos need and deserve to have a safe home.

I know I still have to create my back-up copies of each image, but a good first start is to find them all and get them all safely out of the sunlight, nowhere near dampness or humidity and by all means into containers that are acid-free.

And of course, I also need to identify each person, location, timeframe in each and every photo. Yikes! Add that I want to know the stories behind the bare boned facts of each image and you see this project is bigger than a breadbox! But worth it given so much heritage - so many life stories - in those decades worth of family photos.

Well, I'll just keep working at it. Anything I get done is better than zip, right?

How about you? Do you know where all your family photos are? Are they safe?

Family photos - one of our priceless treasures in life! :)

No "Silent Witnesses" - Telling Life Stories

Welcome to day one - post one - in my very first attempt at creating & writing a blog. Yes, I'm new to this! :)

What's NOT new is my love of heritage. So, I'll try very hard to work my way around the "magic" technology so that we can TALK. (And indeed – bear with me as I do that!)

I hope that as I write here of heritage and life stories, that you’ll find topics, themes, projects and ideas you can "connect with" – that resonate for you.

Maybe you've found boxes of 35 mm slides - albums of vintage b/w photos - your grandmother's wedding gown - your grandfather's military medals – your mother’s grade school report cards – your gr-aunt’s autograph book. Maybe you feel they have value and "mean something" to you and yours. (If so – you’re not alone!)

By themselves, they are "silent witnesses" moving into the hands of your children and grandchildren. Imagine your descendants - opening that old trunk - staring at "the things" – picking things out – one by one. They will wonder: who owned this – why is it here? Things saved – but silent? Ask yourself – how might you both preserve the items themselves "and" tell the LIFE STORIES they are begging to tell us?

Maybe you’ve stood at family gravesites – (maybe even those of a few or many generations back after hunting down where they were!) - reading tombstone inscriptions – wishing they could "talk with you" awhile – tell you what they saw, knew, felt in their lifetimes. More "silent witnesses" – all in rows.

An old cigar box full of personal treasures? A pocket watch? Some marbles? Some costume jewelry? Maybe there’s even a full to the brim trunk somewhere – full of "life mementos" – full of someone’s MEMORIES. Each a part of your heritage. Each with "a story to tell" – if you but knew what it was.

Ticket stubs. World’s fair memorabilia. Newspaper clippings. Wedding invitations. Matchbooks. Old scrapbooks. Fading photographs. Pressed flowers. Personal letters. Silent witnesses all – tantalizingly calling to us to find and know what they have to tell us.

Then too – for all we know – 100 years from now - someone will be looking at "us" and "our trunks". Will we have sent forward in time more "silent witnesses"? Will those in our futures be able to see what "our" mementos meant to us, who we were, what our hopes and dreams were, what we witnessed in our lives, what we believed in or who and what we loved?

Looking back. Looking ahead. Silent Witnesses? Or – Heritage and Life Stories.

They say to follow your passion and do what you love. I’m passionate about "heritage". I see "life stories" everywhere I look and potential "heritage projects" as numerous as jack rabbits – as varied and wonderful as we human beings are - for and about ourselves - our families – and even, our communities.

So – here’s yet another new place - another new shingle put up in cyberspace. Here, you’ll find talk of family history, journals, heritage scrapbooks, preserving vintage photos, interviewing older relatives, and more. You’ll find talk of the science, technology, art, craft and commerce that can help us discover our heritage & share our heritage. I’ll also likely share some of my own personal adventures as I work on my own heritage & life story adventures.

Why not say "no more" to the "silent witness" things of our past or present? Why not "give a voice" to family past and present – each unique in all the world – as we find, reclaim, organize & share – one life story at a time?

I’m happy to be here to talk about these things. I hope you’ll come along on the journey with me.