SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
My Mother died in 1993. After that time, my brother handed me all the family photos and documents he had, and informed me that I was the family archivist, so….here you go! And there were hundreds of items! It was quite a daunting prospect. However, a friend from church was a Creative Memories consultant, and I sought her out as to how to go about “organizing” all that stuff. Her suggestion that I separate them into “families” sounded good. So I set about it – putting my Mother’s family in one pile, and my Father’s family in another.
There were still hundreds of items to work through!
For whatever reason, I decided to start working through my Mother’s family first. Perhaps because she died more recently than my Father. So I began to gather the scrapbooks and paper and ideas to work on putting those photos in some chronological order, to put them on decorated pages. I always had at the back of my mind, that this was a “legacy” for future generations to know their ancestors.
I was never very fast at that project. It would take me quite a while to decide how I wanted to decorate the page, and what pictures I wanted on the page. But as I went along, I realized that I was, indeed, getting quicker with the ideas. I also realized that I was getting rather “immersed” in my family and it’s history. I have pictures of my great-grandparents on my Mother’s side. It really turned out to be quite a lot of fun.
Of course, other “projects” came into play, and I had to set aside the archival project once in a while. A driving trip we made with our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. Those pictures just had to get into a book before I forgot what we did and when we did it. Then back to the archives. Then a cruise, and those pictures had to make their way into a book. Then back to the archives. You get the picture.
My Grandmother and Grandfather. Purported to be their “wedding” picture. They eloped.
But I never lost the feeling of really “knowing” my family’s history – where they lived, and when they lived in that town and on that street. It’s something that I’ve come to cherish.
My Great-grandparents and my Grandmother.
She was about six months old.
I’ve gotten away from it now, for a while. I’ve been rather busy with scanning all the old 35mm slides Fred and I have taken over our 50+ years of marriage. I hope our daughters and grands will someday want the pictures of their grands, and parents as small/growing children, but I’m sure they don’t want the slides.
My Grandmother at age 2 years 3 months. The “frame” around the picture is the back of the photo, blown up. I thought it needed to be seen – to show how photographs were done in the early 1900’s.
In any case, it’s been a wonderful journey, and one I don’t think I’ll ever finish.
Old Things R New 