Let the Fun Begin

New toys are usually fun.  Christmas presents should be enjoyed.  Am I right?

This present looks like it may be more work than fun.  Can you guess?

You know how I’ve been preaching “save your memories”?

Well, thanks to his daughters, Dad received a scanner for Christmas.  But this isn’t just any old scanner.  This particular scanner actually scans slides and negatives as well as documents and photos.

And here’s the deal.  I’ve been visiting the parents every week (mostly) to talk about their memories, things they’ve done and who our family members were (are).  This week we pulled out the new slide scanner and started scanning.

Do you know how many slides are hiding in the basement?  Yes, a lot!

Not only are there Mom & Dad’s slides, but also my Grandma Ruth’s (Graham/Clark/McDannold) slides that Mom inherited.  These span from the 1950’s to…   I’m not sure where the end is, but I’ve seen some from the 70’s…  I guess we will find out as we march through them.

This is a crazy process, trying to figure out how to name the images, saving them, where to store them and even identifying some of these folks.  If you have experience with this, please share any tips that could make this easier!

As we do this each week, I’ll pull a few out to share with you here.  If we run across a picture of YOU, we may or may not email or text them to you directly.  You may want to leave your email address with me (sign up in the sidebar).

This week we started on slides that belonged to Ruth (my Grandma).  We managed to scan and label 2 slide boxes.  Do you know how many slides are in a box? Approximately 30.  We scanned 53, the rest were overexposed, underexposed, dark or damaged.

See the Photo Gallery

This is my Grandma Ruth, who many of you probably don’t know.  She passed away at the age of 59 when I was 14.

You may recognize the plates on the wall behind her – there may be one or two hanging on the wall at Mom’s (Marilyn) house.

 

 

Looking at old pictures can be a little (a lot) emotional.  Especially pictures of the ones who have gone on before us – my Grandma, my sister, and my cousin – all too soon, at 59, 46 and 19!  But it’s comforting in a way, too, to remember them, their lives and the impact they had on all of us.

If you would like to share anything you know about the people in the photographs, please feel free to comment on this post.  We’d like to hear your stories!  You could even email them to me so I can share in a post.

I’ll keep you updated on our progress.

—  Kim

P.S.  Did you notice the new website design?