Your Photos - Have They Seen the Light of Day?

Hello Friends,

This is the best time of year to sort and organize your photos.  Curl up on the couch with a box of pictures, a cup of tea and start sorting.

It really helps if you get them all in one place first.  Don't worry if they aren't organized, just get them all into boxes so you can sort them easily.

And let's back up a step further.  Perhaps you already have them stored in plastic totes like these?  

Take them out and put them into a photo boxes like this Legacy Box Collection.  The large box holds up to 2500 photos and takes up a lot less room.  Plus they are archival safe.

If these are beyond your budget, shop around to find a storage solution that works for you.

Recently I worked with a client who stored her framed photos in totes like these down in the basement storage of her parking garage.  A very hungry mouse, chewed a hole in the plastic, and then proceeded to chew through the picture frames and eat her prized photos!

So if you think you're photos are safely stored, think again.  If they are located in a basement, they could be subject to flooding, mold, mildew, insects and mice.  I've seen it happen in the most beautiful of lower levels.  If they are in the garage, the same thing can happen plus humidity and frigid temperatures.

If you sort with family members, it can be so much fun to reminisce, share family stories and the history of generations passed on.  This time could be recalled later as a favorite memory with your children.

For sure get them off your camera & phone!

I urge you and encourage you to get your photos out of those dark boxes and into the hands, hearts and minds of those who will appreciate knowing that there is more to you than meets the eye.  Photos of us reconnect us with our past selves.  Photos of other people open up new awareness about our family history and give us a sense of belonging.

Good intentions may not serve you when it comes to photos.  Ask for help if it seems too daunting of a project.  

One of my grandmothers meant to label all the cardboard boxes filled with photos she had stored in her attic, but glaucoma took her eyesight way too soon and she never finished.  She was an only child with her parents long gone.  Those unknown, unidentifiable photos ended up in the burn barrel on my mother's ranch when she cleared out her storage trailer.  Those boxes were moved at least 5 times in the last 100 years - and no one thought to ever look at them!

Today, my uncle who is my mother's brother, sent me a very special photo that I have never seen before.  This is my great-grandmother, Anna Cady.  She is my namesake twice as my middle name, Anne is after her and when I divorced, I changed my last name to hers.

I've never met her but all my life my mother has told me that I am a lot like her.  We both loved calico cats, beautiful photography, crafting and sewing. I have an antique writing desk that was hers, her cast iron Dutch oven and 2 quilts that she made by hand.  And now, thanks to my uncle, I have a photo of her too.  

There is some resemblance!

 I'm so grateful that my uncle didn't wait to share this with me.  

Where are all your family's photos stored?

What are your intentions?

What's holding you back from getting them into the light of day?

Who do you want to share them with?  Contact me, let's get started.