Each week I drive across town and scan someone else's stuff as part of a larger family history project.
Between the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree and my own vacation, I've missed a couple weeks of scanning. I also skipped posting for a week. Here's why:
During this series, I've followed the paper and photo trail of a family line. Though I am not related to them, I've been moved by their ups and downs as I've scanned their lives.
Lately, I've been working on the files of a husband and wife. You might remember when I shared about the letters they wrote during college and as young newlyweds during World War II.
The scanning session I did two weeks ago dealt with retirement papers and letters regarding the death of the man's mother, handling the estate, etc. These things might not mean anything on the level, but they were evidence that I'm nearing the end of scanning the documents for this couple. In a strange way, I'll miss them. I didn't quite know how to explain that in a blog post, so I skipped a week.
Last week, I went on vacation. It was sunny. It was fun. It was everything it needed to be.
Today was my first day scanning back from vacation. As dorky as it sounds, it was nice to get back into the files and "see" these folks again.
The papers I scanned today weren't that exciting. Just a bunch of property tax documents. But mixed in with the dry stuff was a 1915 photobook of the husband as a baby. I was slightly jealous of the client, as I would love to have something like that for my own family.
Between the baby book and the tax documents were the record of this man's life.
It all goes so fast.
This scanning project is a reminder to slow down and experience life in such a way that we make records of our own. Each record helps tell our story.
Go forth and create your own records by living each day to the fullest.
Its so true and a great reminder. Today I was walking my dog down the block where I grew up. As we rounded the corner I caught a quick glimpse of one of the few neighbors left from when we live there. I hadn't seen her in some time and it surprised me that she looked so different and made me think back to my childhood and how it seemed like just yesterday I was playing in that yard with her son and daughter. It goes so fast.
ReplyDeleteAhhh... what a lovely message it is that you left us with. Thankyou. Cheers, Catherine.
ReplyDeleteI've been sorting through boxes of family treasures and this week discovered a photo of my great grandmother when she was about 5 years old. I put it next to a photo of her from about 5 years before her death and it struck me that in between those two pictures was a life and such a big story to tell. I'm doing my best to fill in the blanks with more photos, scrapbooks, and other information but it just isn't the same.
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