Each summer our children and grandchildren come from near and far to join us for about a week. It gives them a chance to be kids again, laughing and playing like they did when they were growing up.
While cleaning the basement recently, my husband opened a box filled with his family�s photos. Since we frequently go to auctions, we see this kind of material from time to time. "Who wants a box of instant relatives?," the auctioneer always says to get a laugh. However, it�s sad that historic family images have become separated from those who should have them.
Since the fate of our own family photos could be the same if we allowed them to sit in the box until they were simply meaningless images on Kodak paper, we decided to divvy up the pictures while we still knew who was who.
So, one night after ice cream and strawberry shortcake, we sat around the dining room table. The box was opened. The children, two girls and a boy (one daughter her own daughter couldn't be there), are great at sharing, so we felt that there would be no problems. Anyone could ask for a photo. If more than one person wanted that photo, it went into the middle until a copy or similar photo could be found. One granddaughter was there as well. A separate pile was started for the missing sibling.
We started around eight o'clock and thought the process might take an hour. It continued past midnight. It was amazing. My husband recalled the names of relatives he had seen only once or twice as a child. Names of his parents' friends, and kids he grew up with came back from the recesses of his mind. Stories were told. Names and information were written on the back of the pictures so generations to come could see their ancestors. Questions flowed from the children as they absorbed their family history. "Wow, Grandma was really beautiful when she was young," was the consensus. It was no slight on the lined face they knew until she passed away. She was beautiful then in a different way. And, Grandpa, so handsome. "What a couple they made." Maybe that had something to do with their marriage lasting almost 60 years till death do them part.
One large album started with photos of my husbands mother and her friends from her teen and pre-marriage working years. It continued through her marriage, and finally with photos of my husband and his sister. (My husband and his sister had already divided the family photos once so her children could enjoy the same legacy.) That album was given to one daughter with the understanding that it belonged to everyone and she was the caretaker.
Grandboomers might want to consider doing the same with their family photos. Let your children know who those people are in the photos, before they discover them as they prepare for your estate sale. We have photos of our ancestors throughout our home. Now, the children plan to have the same with theirs.
It was a great night that brought the family even closer together. The children and the grandchildren now have a better understanding of who is who in their ancestral tree. And, at least in this family, a treasured box of family photos won't be heading to the auction block.
© 2012 Created by Myles Bristowe.
