Archiving

I've always had an interest in family history. More specifically, I've always enjoyed hearing/seeing/learning about anything that involved my Mom. As kids, my brother and I spent a lot of time living at my grandparents' house (my Mom's parents) when my Mom was hospitalized. My Grandma would often tell stories about all the different places that they had lived, from Toronto to Winnipeg to Calgary. Along with the stories came the pictures, mostly in the form of slides. Some of my very favourite memories are of the times when my brother and I had an evening of viewing those slides with my grandparents. I loved seeing the pictures of my Mom's growing up years and just learning more about her life.

And so, it shouldn't be a surprise that it became important for me to archive these images. It has taken over a year, and not one, but TWO, pricey scanners to scan 1,176 slides. Not only have I scanned them, but I've also spent countless hours creating a movie out of all of these images. I am also in the process of creating a photo book for my grandparents as a gift for their 60th wedding anniversary this year (shh, don't tell them).

You'd think that I could stop there, but no...I now have decided that it is a good idea to scan ALL of the negatives from ALL of the photos from my growing up years. I'm not yet sure of just how crazy this is, but thankfully I'm not panicked about this project. I think I'll just work on it at a relaxed pace. It will definitely be nice to have all of those images digitalized, though.

At times through this process, I have had to examine my motives in devoting so many hours to preserving photos. I mean, is it really so important? I'm not sure that I have the answer to that, but it was all I could do not to cry the other day when I sat down with my grandparents to watch the finished movie version of their slides. It was an incredible gift to give them, knowing that they can just pop a disc in their DVD player anytime they want to reminisce and watch those precious images of days gone by. I also know that it means a tremendous amount to my brother. And of course, it means so very much to me. I can't wait for the day, God-willing, that I get to share these images and stories with my own children. I want them to be excited to meet my Mom someday. I know that I can hardly wait to see her again :)