Do you know who this is?   Unfortunately, neither do I.

    

    Imagine you were given a whole box of black and white photos of people you love. Now imagine that you cannot name anyone in the photos. This happened to me this week. I have longed to have copies of photos of my grandparents and great grandparents. My long-awaited dream finally happened when my aunt handed me a digital copy of old family photos. They were professionally done, and you could tell by the quality that it was an expensive process. I eagerly opened the files to reveal picture after picture of my mom's family. Then to my dismay not one photo was labeled. When I asked to see the back of the photos so I could identify the people in them. I was devastated, not one photo had any writing or markings of any kind on them. Several lifetimes immortalized in a picture were lost. People loved are now strangers to our eyes. 

    I know this sad fate is not mine alone. Many families have lost their pictures. Some in natural disasters, some because of the acts of another, and some like us, the pictures were put in a box and forgotten about. So we ask ourselves "Self.... what can be done"?  

    The answer is simple, don't wait! Go visit grandma or grandpa and help them sort their pictures. Take sticky notes and pen. Mark every picture you can. If they don't know or don't remember enlist the help of great aunt and uncles. Ask your parents or anyone else who might be able to identify your precious loved ones. 

     If all else fails start where you stand. Sort your pictures. Label them and if you can, find the time scan them into digital folders. Your kids will thank you one day. Remember keep it simple! 10-20 minutes goes along way. This weekend we took 20 minutes to sort out photos. We put them in piles of individual children, pictures of the whole family, and pictures that included extended family members or friends. We placed them in zip-lock bags with a sticky note label. I will go back this week and label each photo individually. Eventually they will all get scanned into the computer. It may take me weeks or months to get them all organized. However, 10 minutes a day is the least I can do for a life time of love.

    We had a great time sorting pictures. We even had a good laugh at the look on our daughter's face as she looked at a set of negatives for the first time ever.

    The best part was my 16 year old daughter announced at dinner tonight that she really enjoyed sorting pictures. She has never met my husband's grandfather and loved seeing a picture of him holding her brother as a baby. The question is: Will you take the challenge? Dust off those boxes of pictures in the attic or the basement and begin the hunt. You never know what you will find!