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How to Use Technology to Strengthen Family Ties
Don’t Wait to Preserve Photos and Other Memories
We listened intently to her story. I was among a small knot of workers from a group of 1,000 volunteers who had come that day to help clean up after the floodwaters receded. Most of the renters were away at work, she said, when the waters began rising faster than expected. By the time they were advised of the situation, there was barely enough time to grab their most important possessions and evacuate.
That much was obvious from the duplex’s expensive contents that we dumped into piles outside.
Memories can be lost in a day
Fancy, but slime-covered, clothing, shoes, handbags, furniture and china co-mingled with moldy drywall and smelly insulation. There was little doubt that its occupants had had little time to escape. Residents who lost their photos, Mary said, regretted their losses the most.
What are you doing to preserve and protect the valuable photos, letters and other important records of your and your family’s life? Not only your photos and other paper documents, but also any slides, audio and videotapes and digital photos?
These materials are priceless because they help bridge the gap between generations, preserve family stories and traditions, and foster a sense of true identity and healthy self worth in the rising generation.
Preserving memories helps foster a sense of self-worth and belonging
They help both adults and children find out who they are through the stories and traditions of their parents, grandparents and other relatives.
If you’re like many people, most of this irreplaceable material is lying in boxes under beds or in closets, and some is in albums. These memories may be on your computer’s hard drive, on flash drives or still in your grandmother’s memory, waiting for you to record them for posterity.
Wherever these records are, they are deteriorating. Maybe not as quickly as our flood victims experienced, but they are still deteriorating. Unless you capture the content in some way, your valuable documents and photos, especially the ones in color, will continue to deteriorate until they become unusable, even if they’re in albums.
Even your digital photos and other digital media are vulnerable. Have you ever had a computer crash and lose all your valuable material? My doctor son had that happen to him a few months ago. Every hard drive will eventually fail. It is inevitable. The average life of a hard drive is only three years. A Carnegie-Mellon study shows that hard drives are just as likely to lose all your data in their first year of service as in their seventh year.
In other words, unless you have saved your valuable content in other ways and/or on other media, you will eventually lose it. Deterioration and decay are inevitable for paper, magnetic and optical media. It is not a matter of IF, but WHEN.
Click on any of the tabs above to learn the latest strategies, get expert advice, hints and links on how to preserve, share and enjoy your precious memories, whether they be photos, slides, video- or audiotapes — or whatever. Share your own hints and experience with us and come back often for new ideas!