Young and innocent, this is how we begin our lives, taking in each and every day; suddenly as adults we live life vicariously, and so… a collection of snapshots from those moments that are unforgettable, somewhere put in a box most likely by a parent or relative and then tucked away. The years pass quickly and before you know it we graduate High School, and while some will go on to College, others begin to grow in relationships which will unite in marriage and soon form families of their own. While life passes through these events in time, someone… somewhere, will be collecting photos of the generations that come to pass; but what will happen to those photos? Will anyone be interested in their heritage? Will they really want to know about relatives from years prior; a great-great grandparent, or great grandparent, cousins … a who’s who in the photo gallery of snap shots? Lives have changed, and so has the meaning of many traditions that so many of us baby boomers have come to experience, and I can honestly speak for myself here… “I miss the old and simpler days.”
Recently I’ve had the pleasure of going through some old photos at my father’s home, and I find them interesting. I also find it amusing how some people on Facebook use an application called Time hop to post a photo from only five years or less that was used on their web page, then again there is what they call ‘Throw back Thursday’ which is fun, and I enjoy posting old photos found of either myself or a family photo and whatnot, as it is enjoyable to share for all to see. So what happens to those old photos when we get old? Do our children really want them and will they cherish them? Or… do they sit in a corner in a box somewhere while they live their lives in the ‘Now’ moment, collecting dust. Everyone is different, and ideas are not the same. I believe women are more sentimental than men when it comes to family photos or heritage; Genealogy which traces blood lines, more less of who’s who and where you may have ultimately came from. Interesting? For some, but not everyone, I had a 4 generation photo of my grandmother, mother, myself and daughter taken many years ago; today I wished I had a 5 generation photo, but my grandmother is no longer with us, and I miss her very much. My mother came for a visit over the summer and now I sit here thinking … “why didn’t we get that photo? What if I’m not around in a year, or my mother for that matter?” It’s important to me, but maybe it isn’t that important to the younger generation. They are a bit different than we are, they live in the ‘Now’ and do their own things, making their own ways. I cling to my past, like many of you do, that are probably my age or older.
I have an appreciation for old photos, looking at albums, laughing and reminiscing about days gone by and asking “who is that in this photo?” But kids today look at them and see black and white and noses get turned up with no interest whatsoever. It’s a part of them, whether they realize it or not. I remember when family reunions were a big thing to attend, but today you do not here about them so much; why? It takes a special person with a special interest of family… generations of people with love for family. In todays’ society there are many broken homes, and while morals and values really haven’t changed, it’s priorities of the families that has. I had to think long and hard before I made this statement, because morals and values are the same… it’s just the priorities; I grew up in a church, as my children did… but we cannot control what happens from there. We give them the tools we feel are important in life, and what they decide to do with the rest… well, I guess is in their hands. I prefer to keep my sentimental photos close to my heart, even if I don’t know who everyone is (that is posing in them); somehow, they must have been a part of the family or a close friend to be in them to begin with, and that’s good enough for me.
Make your week count.
Great observation! I love my collection of old photos! I’ve got a suitcase of old photos that I inherited from my grandmother. She was the person responsible for documenting all the momentous family gatherings in photos. Sometime before the occasion wrapped up, Grandma made sure Grandpa snapped a photo, then someone else would snap a picture with Grandpa in it, while everyone moaned! But after she was gone, it didn’t happen very often, mostly because we forgot, as Grandma had always made sure it was taken care of. I love looking back on those photos, they help trigger my memory of all the good times we shared as a family. When I’m gone, it’s doubtful my boys will care much about them, but only because they hold the key to my memories, and not theirs.
By the way, somewhere in my collection is a picture of you and I, Janice and Laurie in the backyard at the house on Armour. We were probably 4 or 5 at the time. If I ever unearth that picture, I’ll have to share it with you!
Funny you should bring this up. Recently I have been on a journey of scanning and digitizing photos that my Mother left behind. Some were in albums, but mostly, just boxes full of pictures of her, her siblings, and in general all family. Yes there were many that were black and white, people that I vaguely recognize, maybe knew for a short time during my upbringing, but sadly they passed much too soon. A lot of them have faded, they are losing their stability, getting old and some are torn and tattered from many years of viewing and moving from place to place. I think that with the technology today it would be better to capture them while I can so they can be available for many more years and for those that I share them with during that time. They will go from boxes in the closets or garages, to living on hard drives and clouds for generations behind me that I will pass them on too. Maybe I need to re-think tagging the people I know, I have found some photos that have people on them with no smiles, very serious looking faces, almost frightening to me of people that I never did know. As it turns out they were my great great grandparents. Funny how times have changed, today for younger people it is common that they have a great great maybe even great great great grandparent around and alive, but it used to be asking a lot for someone my age to even have a great grandma around for any period of time, much less a great great grandparent. All too often today babies having babies having babies, younger and younger,, but anyway, I will continue the journey on my end of making pics available to share with today’s generation rather than let them sit and fade away in boxes that I am sure no one behind me wants to go through. They are important, it’s my responsibility to ensure they don’t end up in the dump or meet a demise that can’t be recreated or downloaded from the cloud.