Nostalgia | Personal Project

Since the painful loss of my grandfather, my desire to learn more about my family history has grown exponentially. My grandfather’s passing was difficult not only for the loss of an amazing man, but for the loss of a generation, of history…and the realization that my opportunity to learn more about my family was slowly slipping away. Unrecorded knowledge of previous generations seems to fade away.

So, I’ve decided to take a personal project for the winter- scanning my entire family photo archive! I’m talking about everything my grandma has in her possession, which is about 1860 to present. Grandma literally has boxes and boxes of scattered prints- thousands of prints, so this is quite the undertaking! I’d like to scan everything so my parents, aunts/uncles and cousins can all enjoy the archive. I’d also like to create an extensive family tree. Assembling all of this information from boxes full of photos will be a challenge, but something so valuable to understand. I’m still not sure how to organize all of the information. I was thinking of creating books… if anyone has ideas, let me know!

Anyway, as I was browsing through the photos today I realized how important photography is in our lives. I found great comfort in looking at pictures of my grandpa. There is something so beautiful about a printed photograph from decades past, which is why I encourage all of my clients to consider heirloom quality albums and prints!

Here is a army photograph of my grandfather, taken in the fall of 1942. I absolutely adore this image and I think my grandpa looks particularly handsome! Grandpa served in Hawaii and the South Pacific. He was so very proud of his service to our country in World War II:

My grandparents wedding photo, June 12, 1947:

My great grandparents, August + Laura, on their wedding day- May 2, 1919:

My great great grandparents, Fred + Henrietta, on their wedding day- August 7, 1877: