Downsizing Memories...Helping Your Parents With This Important Project

When our parents downsize, what will happen to their memories?  



Many seniors have boxes upon boxes of old photos and slides, albums, home movies in obsolete formats, and memorabilia.  Trying to organize all of this can be an overwhelming task.   Because it's hard to know where to start, often times these memories stay tucked away in a box.


I believe our memories are important.  Our photos are for sharing, and also for remembering.  They deserved to be preserved and enjoyed!  


But how do we go about doing that?  


Old photo albums can be scanned and digitized, and turned into coffee table style photobooks, which are lighter, take up less space, and are much easier to store.  Boxes of photos can be sorted (more on sorting in another blog), scanned and shared with other family members using Linea (photosharing and photo archiving all in one), and possibly turned into a life story photobook.  A nice thing about sharing on Linea is that other family members can add photos to the same line, and add comments about those pictured as well, keeping all of your old family photos and information about those photos in one easily accessible place.  Being able to view them in a beautiful mosaic on your computer is a big plus as well!  Family members are also able to export them to their own computers, allowing sharing to come full circle.  


Slides can also be scanned, and stored on DVD, as well as uploaded to Linea.  Important memorabilia should also be dealt with the same way.  Old home movies can be converted to current formats by a professional, so that your parents can continue to enjoy them.  It's easy enough to make extra copies for multiple family members.  


To help you with this process, you may want to consider contacting a photo organizer.  Photo organizers are trained to help you with all your photo management needs and will work with you to come up with a plan that meets your budget as well.  To see what types of projects a photo organizer might help you with, here's a military memoir created about a WWII veteran. 


Let's not let our history be lost!  Our family stories should be enjoyed now...and preserved for future generations.  What steps are you taking to preserve your family stories? 

What stories do your photos tell?

A good photo tells a story.

One of my favorite pictures from 2011 is one of my daughter and her teammates hugging after winning their semi final soccer game in penalty kicks against a Canadian team at an international  tournament we traveled to this summer.  It’s not a great picture that stands on its own, but there is a story behind it. 

This team started out as a group of players from all over our state, most of whom had never played together other than some practices.  Prior to this trip, they’d never played a game together.  None of the parents knew each other either.  We watched their frustration as they struggled through the first half of the tournament as they learned how to play with one another.  But by the second half of the tournament, a change had taken place…they were truly teammates, and they’d also become friends.

The game in which I took the picture I am talking about was a hard fought one, with the other team leading by one until the late in the second half when one of our players scored to tie it up.   They then went into penalty kicks to decide the game, and after some pressure filled moments, emerged victorious.  The girls then went on to win the final against a Swedish team.

There was so much emotion built up into the last moments of that game.  (By contrast, the final was not nearly as stressful…they won 5-0).   When they won the semi final,  the girls in the penalty kick lineup immediately grabbed each other into a hug and their other teammates came running over to join in.  I was caught up in the moment as well and didn’t capture the emotion on their faces when they realized they won.  But I did get their backs folded into a group hug and for me, and them, that was an important part of the story.  It was a moment of glory that I am sure they won’t forget.  That group hug has a prominent place in their photobook!

Do your photos tell a story?