Last week I talked about my death book. Thank you to everyone who liked or commented. This is something we all need to do AND keep updated, no matter our age. Step two in the process, at least for us, is starting to downsize our memories.
In years past, our parents and grandparents left hundreds, maybe thousands of photographs taken over the years and passed down from previous generations. Some were treasured, some were enjoyed, but some were tossed. Why? Because no one knew who the people were or where they were taken.
Then came the digital world. I have thousands of photos on my hard drive. Most are also uploaded to SmugMug but when I pass, that account will be closed. Will anyone truly want to go through that many photographs? I doubt it, but they will be there for anyone in the family who cares.
The downside? Many of them just have the camera image name. IMG_00067.jpg, DSCN0189.JPG, PANA0051.jpg. Sure tells you a lot, right? The only good thing is I have most of them in folder that at least describes the month/year and place they were taken. At this point in my life, I don’t plan to go in and rename them or even add keywords. I’ve got too much else to accomplish.
Then there is the memory box, a large tote in our case. One for me and one for my husband. The one storage spot for memory items. Old photo albums, memorabilia from past events, items from childhood – all considered important and precious at the time they were added. Now? Who in the family might want them?
I wonder who might want this memento?
Yes, we tossed it…but at some time we thought it was important to label and keep as a memory item.
So that it where we are. Going through our memory stuff, deciding what should get tossed, what might sell, what can be sent on to our children now, and what we will keep (for now). Oh, and scanning photos – LOTS of them but being sure they designate who/what/where whenever possible.
And why are we doing this? One reason – to make things easier when it finally comes time for our family to dispose of our things. The death of a parent is difficult enough without dealing with boxes and totes and collections of “stuff”. Stuff that might have meant something at some point but is meaningless clutter to anyone else at this point in life. Difficult in the best of times.
Have you started your “After I Die” instruction book? Is it time to scan those old photos? Buried in the back of a closet/attic/basement, do you have a memory box or two that need to be gone through? Maybe now is the time…
Thank you.
A great article. I too have many pictures from my parents. We have scanned a great many and are making 5 cd’s for my siblings. When a person is the main one in the pic, they get that physical picture. 6 kids.. sometimes it’s very difficult to keep everyone happy.
When my kids left home, I sent 95% of their photos along with their baby books with them. I still have a ton of pictures left to scan.
I have so many pictures where they are I’m not even sure.
I bought your your Paradise book with all 3 books in one book. It arrived today and I can’t wait to start it.
Hope you enjoy, Crystal! Thank you.
When my husband died last year I sold our house of 40 years and our only child helped me “declutter” big time. She did question WHY I kept so much, but my new home is now MY comfortable place to continue my “next chapter”.
My “to do” list is to continue scanning historical family photos and adding names to the file names. I will also backup my digital photos to CD’s and hope the technology will exist for future generations to be able to “see” them. I may have to convert some to “photo books”. I tried that with an offer from Facebook but it never arrived! Grrrr….
The hardest will be our “collections” after I finish with memory stuff. I have some I really enjoy so they won’t leave right away.