I am currently in the midst of scanning two very large photo orders for two different clients. It’s so much fun for me because I love pictures and I love seeing the memories families have captured. Sometimes the individuals I may be doing Memory Books for have Alzheimer’s or Dementia and I really can’t converse with them about the process. But give me a little time and I can still tell the family stories … just by looking at photos.
I did three Albums for a woman who has Alzheimer’s (I’ll call her Joan). I’ve never met her. Her attorney hired me because Joan’s Patient Advocate felt it might be helpful for her to have a book of her memories. After going through a number of boxes, I was able to capture 3 different stories. They were a family that loved to have gatherings in their home. So I did an album called, “The Celebration of Family.” They also did a lot of traveling abroad. The next album was “The Celebration of Travel.” Lastly, they raised Weimaraner dogs and won awards at Madison Square Garden. You got it. I did “The Celebration of Family Pets.”
After I completed these three Albums, I felt like I belonged to the family. Weird…I know. I can’t explain it but somehow I felt part of the family as I was capturing their memories and helping to tell their story. The husband has passed away and Joan now has Alzheimer’s. Seeing the beauty of their memories made me feel sad that he was gone and Joan was suffering.
One client I have so far scanned about 9,000 photos. These photos are so much fun because I am seeing the family growth for the past 60 plus years. I’ve seen the daughter as an infant to now a beautiful attorney. I’ve seen her riding horses, traveling with her mom and dad and enjoying special moments with her mom. I can tell she has a special relationship with her mom. They have a lovely mother/daughter bond. This family captured the beauty of their events, travels and special family times.
My other client has thousands of photos but the majority of those photos are scenery and not people. I’m capturing stories from these photos but I am definitely learning something in the process. At some point, the children will have all these photos. But 70% of them won’t mean much to them because it is scenery of places their mom and dad traveled. There are pictures of people but not enough. The scenery pictures are lovely because they traveled to lovely places. But how much better the pictures would be if there were family members in them.
What’s the point of my writing? Think about when you are taking a picture and what you are trying to capture. If you have a bunch of pictures without people, someday they will mean nothing to your family members. Capture people in those pictures. Let your family see the growth of each member. Let them see the beautiful changes that take place as they age.
How much more fun will that be as your photos get handed down to generations to come.
Do you need help organizing your photos? Have you inherited boxes of your parents or grandparents photos and don’t know how to begin? I’m here to help. Contact me for a free phone consultation. It could change your life of memories!
Submitted by Regina Sanchez, peace maker, chaos eliminator and life giver. As a Health, Wellness and Organizational Coach, I help people transform their health, their living space and their memories into something that will enhance their life and their purpose.
860-874-8515. http://ReginaSanchez.com