In response to the GON reader who was organizing legacy photos...
First of all, good for her!
My parents recently passed away. We were left with an enormous collection of photos. We tackled the project as sisters. We sorted by sibling. There are five of us.
Each family left with a mountain of manila envelopes of their branch of our family tree. Special photos were scanned for the slide show and then shared digitally.
My recommendation? Do it early, along with your parents. Many photos were old, but we are not sure who they were of.
I also recommend doing something with the stack of photos once you have a pile. In other words, don't take the manila envelopes home and make your children go through them when you pass away.
And lastly, take photos of your aging parents! We noticed so few recent photos of them. Probably because our kids are grown and they weren't sitting on grandparent's laps.
Make it fun! Take selfies, or what we call groupies, with your parents. This will make it fun for them and make a fun memory together.
I sure miss my mom and wish I had more recent pictures of her as she aged.
Blessings!
Here is a useful tip when losing jewelry. Many years ago, when I was teaching marching band, one the
girls lost her diamond necklace on a football field. We searched and searched and could not find it.
One of the staff suggested that we note the spot where she thought she lost it and wait till dark.
We did and with the help of a giant flashlight looked until we got a reflection back. It was found.
Boy was she relieved and grateful. Hope this helps.
-- Brian Collingdon
Doing This Makes it Easier to Declutter
I recognize the value of de-cluttering as a way to live more serenely. I'm happy to say it has finally become easier to get rid of things that clearly are just taking up valuable space in my life. But, it can be so hard to part with sentimental or nostalgic items, however tattered or outdated they may
be.
My best solution so far has been to take photos of the item before bidding it farewell. A photo, especially a digital one, takes up lots less space than the thing itself, but I can have peace knowing that my sentimental something has not completely left my life, destined to be forgotten over
time.
If I worry that my computer might crash and lose the image, I can just back it up or print it and store it.
For those who think a photo won't quite cut it, consider also writing a paragraph or two in a journal about your memories surrounding the item you're about to part with. You'll enjoy revisiting the memory without bemoaning your lack of closet space!
-- Joanna Hathcock, Dallas, TX
