I’ve always wondered how people get through wars and other frightening times that can occur during one’s lifetime. My mother and father lived through the depression and then later WWII. My grandmother was a medical practitioner treating German Soldiers during WWI and then later had to endure the Spanish Flu which came just as the war was ending. My God what a time!

Last week I found myself, like most of us, cycling through a range of emotions: fear, hope, hopelessness, despair, denial and as much acceptance as I could muster. As both the parent of a teenage boy and the son of a very at-risk mother in an asssited living, every decision I find myself facing carries many potential consequences. I get absolutely exhausted just trying to navigate what used to be the simplest daily decisions in my life.

But I don’t really have to tell this to anyone do I?

My grandmother (2nd from right, 2nd row seated) with her patients.

It would also be crazy not to consider my own mortality; I’m hoping for the best, but hey, what if…?

So, what should I do just in case?

I checked my will and papers and updated what I needed. But I started to think about my son and what he would lose should anything happen to me. I’ve organized my own family photo collection to some extent, I’ve worked on it over the years, but it was not in any way, shape or form a condition to be passed on. That was the crucial missing piece of this; my whole family history could be lost.

I have written on my blog and talked to my clients about creating what I call a Legacy Collection, something that can be passed down to future family members. It is not an edited down version of your Apple Photos library or even anything like that. In its digital form it is a small collection of digital images and videos that have been placed on accessible media and/or a cloud platform that tells the stories of our lives and that of our family’s. In printed form it could be an album or even a small selection of some of the best prints.

So that’s what I started to create for my son last week.

I really love working with family photos, but full disclosure here, when the world seems like the crazy, insane place it is, I wonder if what I do has any real importance in comparison. But here I was faced with the existential question of my own future, and the first thing I thought about doing was getting my own family photos in order. Wow!

Below is a list of some suggested things to do during quarantine to get started with a Legacy Collection. I put organizing your digital photos on the list, but you really don’t have to have that completed in order to start selecting and putting aside the photos for your Legacy Collection.

Second, by all means think of other things to do. Scanning your kid’s artwork just popped into my mind while writing this. Family history can be told in many different ways, I’m sure you will think of others.

For now, my Legacy Collection will be placed on a thumb drive and in cloud storage. I will provide instructions and links and will update media and instructions as needed. I will write and post more about my process as I figure it out myself.

I can help you with most of the things on my list, but what I am really an expert in is helping people navigate the digital imaging universe, be it your Apple Photos app, de-duping your collection or simply helping you start to get organized.

I have been training and teaching people remotely for years, but many of these tasks can be done remotely as well.

Whether you want a road map for your DIY project, or a partner to work with, I can help.

I so want to help everyone, but I also need to keep make a living, I am lucky that I can still work remotely. So what I can do is to offer a 20% discount for my rates: both for hourly and package rates. My full rates are still posted on my website, but call or email me and we will set up the discount for you.

Be well, be safe, and hold on.

Things you can do

·      Selecting and creating a Legacy Collection of your favorite digital photos
·      Selecting prints, film and old movies to be scanned or digitized (to be added to your Legacy Collection)
·      Writing down some of the stories you remember
·      Creating a video of you or family members telling the stories of their lives
·      Organizing your digital photos
·      Creating a family tree

Here are links to a couple of recent posts I’ve written on the subject that I think might be very helpful.
Creating a Legacy Collection
What Makes a Great Family Photo

Life in Focus - photo organizing

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Life during crisis - Life in Focus