I spent most of my weekend scanning old photographs for another slide show DVD project. Several years ago my mother in law gave me a large disorganized box of family photos. Two years ago during one of our rare snow days in Tennessee I found the time to sort through the photos and put them in somewhat of an order. I haven’t looked at the photos since the day I sorted them and neatly tucked them away in a box.
This weekend as I pulled out the photo pouches from the box an overwhelming feeling of “Who are these people?” came to me. I am pretty good at identifying people in photos from the past 30 years but going back 50-70 years it becomes a challenge for me. I decided to dive right in to the top of the stack and start scanning hoping that order would come from the chaos. Three hundred photos and one very strained back later I have my mother in law and father in laws entire family tree digitally stored.
Now the fun of figuring out who these people are begins. The names, relationships and stories behind the photos is what I need to finish the slide show DVD. The only thing I can think of is to print out thumbnail versions of the photos and give them to my mother in law to write a short note next to the photo. At that point I can incorporate her text with each photo.
I have been able to answer the question “Who are these people?” They are family. And even if I don’t know their names they are still family. Family is where we have come from, where we are today and where we will be in the future. Someday I want my son to understand how these people are a part of his history.