It can be easy to overlook the importance of life’s everyday moments, especially with busy schedules. However, making time to take photos and videos when we can allows us to preserve precious moments, capture emotions, and have memories of our loved ones. When the time comes for a loved one to pass, having photos and videos to look back on will help keep their memory alive. In this blog, I’ll offer suggestions for preserving mementos from the past, how to be intentional with capturing the present, and why it’s so important for the future. 

My maternal grandmother was a novice historian with a passion for preserving history. She especially loved our family history. My summers were spent visiting my grandparents in the Ozarks and each time I arrived, Kiki would take me on a “Springfield Family Tour.” As we’d zigzag through town, she’d regale me with stories of the houses she lived in, the offices her father owned and the road where my mom and uncle pelted passing cars with tomatoes on a mischievous afternoon. There was always a stop at the cemetery as well, with more stories of relatives buried there. Most of the time, I was half-listening and counting the minutes until we’d wrap up with a burger and fries at Steak-n-Shake. Now that she’s been gone seven years, I wish I had a video or audio recording of her annual tour. That’s what happens when loved ones die: we always wish for more time with them. Even though we can’t keep them physically with us, we can preserve their memory through pictures, recordings, cherished mementos and other keepsakes. 

It’s important not to wait to protect our sentimental keepsakes and valuable photos because we never know when it might be too late. A pipe could burst, a fire could occur or a natural disaster could hit. My sister was flooded by a hurricane this past fall and lost so many keepsakes, her wedding album included! The American Red Cross has a great acronym for their comprehensive plan for preserving the past: I.D.E.A. 

I - Identify Your Most Prized Possessions. We know to protect our tax records and passports, but what about our sentimental items that evoke special memories from the past? Take some time to think through which items in your home you would be devastated to lose. Make a list of the most important keepsakes. 

D - Defend Your Physical Objects.  Keep items in a cool, dry place that is protected from mildew and pests. Invest in good quality water and air-tight bins as well as acid-free papers and folders. When possible, avoid storing items in basements and attics where it can get very hot and damp. Keep medals, insignias, coins and other metal objects in protective cases to prevent tarnishing and corrosion. 

E - Everything Goes Digital. Spend time this year going through any old photos and papers and creating digital copies of photos, videos, DVDs, tapes and any other physical media recordings. Backup your files regularly and store copies on multiple devices and locations including cloud services like Google Drive, Amazon Photos, Dropbox or iCloud. Convert old files to modern formats so they can be enjoyed and watched. This article from The New York Times offers great tips on how to preserve various mementos. 

A - Always Put Yourself First. No matter how precious the items are, never go back into your home if it is too dangerous to do so. Wait until you’ve been cleared by local authorities, knowing you may be able to recover items at a later time. 

It can be so easy to say, “Oh I’ll take a picture of us next time” or “I’ll record him singing when we get together again” or “Next Christmas, I’ll video her making the special bread.” However, far too many times we push off capturing the everyday moments that would mean the world to us if a loved one was no longer there. Be intentional to capture special moments like a bedtime song with the baby, your teen telling a funny joke, or slow dancing with your spouse. Two things that I’ve recently purchased that I think will help me do this are a tripod and a travel drone. This tripod from Amazon is small and portable and comes with a remote. No more family dinner selfies or trying to find the right spot to set the camera up, just open the tripod and you are ready! We took it on a recent anniversary trip and we took so many better photos than we would have if we were forced to ask a stranger to awkwardly snap a pic. We also bought this pocket-size travel drone that was recommended by a Travel and Leisure editor that I’m really excited about. We used it on our vacation some, but I’m looking forward to recording our family outside in the pool and playing in the yard this summer. For all the moms out there who are rarely in the pictures and videos with our kids, let’s be more intentional about taking our pictures too! Spend a few minutes thinking about what you would most love to have if so-and-so wasn’t here anymore. Maybe it’s Grandpa’s legendary hole-in-one story or you and your sister singing a childhood favorite song; bonus points if you both sing and dance on video complete with the motions you created 30 years ago. My dad always left off-the-wall voicemails for me, usually with rambling stories in a stream-of-conscious type way. Now that he's no longer here to do that, I regret not keeping more of them saved. As I’m typing this, I just played the only voicemail I saved and it made me laugh out loud, hearing his voice, mannerisms and an occasional curse word! I immediately uploaded it to my Google Drive so that if something happened to my phone, that clip wouldn’t be lost. I often see ads for Storyworth, a way to capture stories and preserve memories. That might be a great option in addition to a memorial photo album created through Shutterfly or a similar platform. 

We don’t need little orphan Annie to remind us that the sun will come out tomorrow nor that we have a responsibility to preserve these memories for our children and the future generations to come. If your parents and/or grandparents are still alive, ask them questions and record their answers. Have them write out names on the back of old photographs and record what’s happening in the picture. Create a family tree complete with full names, birth dates and place of birth. If you have special family keepsakes, write down on an index card the story behind the piece and attach it nearby, as well as taking a photo of the card and item together and uploading it to the cloud. My mom just last week gave me a beautiful vase that belonged to my great grandmother, but I wish I knew the story behind it. Oral history is so important too. We need to be telling these family stories to our children every chance we get. Even if the kids, like myself at age 10, roll their eyes and count down the minutes until lunch is served. 

I hope this blog was helpful in encouraging you to capture photos and videos of loved ones to have memories to look back on before it’s too late. The American Red Cross provided great ideas on how to keep photo and video memories safe and helpful ways to store special photos and memories. We talked about the importance of preserving memories and capturing new memories in the present day. We wrapped up with the reminder that it’s on our shoulders to teach the next generation our own family lore and legacy and be intentional about sharing stories with our children.