Family Photos Have Life After Death

Last week’s blog post talked about digital photos vs. printed photos but for our final week of Save Your Photos Month, we will plan for the inevitable, death. Parents buy life insurance to pay for their funerals or to make life comfortable for their children. We make a will to distributethe important things in our lives between the ones we love, equally and fairly. We try to take care of our final arrangements, making sure those in charge know what to do. What about the family photo albums, memorabilia and digital pictures after our death? WHAT?!?! You never thought about this? Well, it’s time!

“By Failing to Prepare, You Prepare to Fail”

A very important quote from Benjamin Franklin that can be parlayed into many things in life. If you are the family historian (like me), it is important to make a plan after your demise. Is there someone in the younger generation that will take up the cause? Does someone in the family show an interest in continuing the family research? Is there anyone who cares at all?? That’s what you need to find out NOW. Seek out the current family historian at the next family reunion. Make sure they know your interests in taking over after they have gone. Talk to your children to see who might take on this task because making a plan is the first and most important step. Also make sure your family photos will be passed on after your death.

Make a Plan

If your Auntie/Grandpa/Mom/Dad agree to pass the family history torch to you, make sure they state it CLEARLY in their wills. Please make sure they let their heirs know NOW! We do not want surprises when the end comes and you try to retrieve unsuccessfully what you’ve been promised. I would highly recommend that you ask your relatives to pass it down to you NOW.

Also, have them go through the album with you. Have them tell you stories of the family members in the pictures (make sure you record it as oral history so you can write it down later). Additionally, make sure they go through their phones and computers to transfer any photos they might have stashed there. Encourage them to upload to a cloud service like Google Photos, Dropbox, shared drive, etc. If they are willing, ask them to share the username and passwords with you so you have access to it at all times.

Be Creative

Since natural disasters happen (seems like more often lately), scan all family photo albums and take pictures of any family memorabilia so you will have a digital copy. Upload this to a cloud service just in case. Last but definitely not least, create a book from the photo albums, memorabilia, newspaper articles, etc. for the next family reunion or to pass along after you! Make sure you include everything about yourself – the good, the bad and the ugly – so they know who you truly are. Include your immediate family and their adventures and mishaps. It’s the best gift you can give your future descendants and continue the family forward.

Next month is Family History Month! I am determined to make family historians out of EVERYONE! I’ve got some great stuff to share so stay tuned.

Peace, Love and Genealogy