Give Mothers and Fathers a Gift That Will Transport Them

One of the great things that can tie a family together is their photographs. They chronicle the unity we tend to find in our families and when put together in a collection, they can bring the strongest individualists to their knees, surrendering to their memories. Who hasn’t had their hearts opened wide by seeing their parents or grandparents or even themselves in younger days? We see whom we are as well as see where we came from and can transport ourselves to another time, just by viewing our photo collections.

For this Mothers Day and Fathers Day, let me suggest something. Instead of a typical, sincere but run of the mill gift for them, think about giving them something they could really get their hands around—their past. Give them the story of their lives by taking their photos, having them scanned and saved to DVD. You’ll be giving them the warm feelings that come with recollecting their favorite times and, at the same time, you’ll be saving their photos from deterioration, assuring future generations will be able to see them.

Think of it…..you can collect their photos, put them in an order that would make sense to them, have them scanned and put into a medium they are comfortable with. You can then sit down with them to watch and listen as they talk about people, places and things that were so important in their life story.

You can import the photos into your computer and turn them into a slide show with music or we can do it for you. It will end up on a DVD, which they can watch on their own TV and you can watch it with them. Or you can take those photos—even with music--and put it on a photo site or even put it on YouTube. There are so many ways to use the pictures or show the pictures; but it all relies on one thing—getting those family pictures scanned. Without them in a digital format, they continue to be at risk from damage, poor storing, heat, humidity, dryness and a host of other things.

Mothers Day is next month; Fathers Day is the month after that. There’s a reasonable chance your parents even got married somewhere in the latter part of spring. There is still time to have their photos scanned for them and do the related work to make a presentation.

Think about it. With every passing year, the value of those we’ve encountered along the way or the moments we shared with those we love become more cherished. I let the opportunity to do that pass until it was too late and my parents were gone. Many of my friends did too.

This gift will allow the doors of emotion to swing wide open. Most of our parents lived in a time when a photograph was seen as a portrait of the moment. Give all those moments back to them so they can relive each one over and over again.