I have been going through old pictures and newspapers clippings, old greeting cards, High School Football programs, ticket stubs and all these momentos that I have kept over the years and that I have "stolen" from my mom. I have been seeing people post old family photos of themselves and their parents and grandparents. And I have been thinking --- I wonder if everyone realizes how important this stuff is. I have a friend show just lost a very close family member to them. They are going through all of that family members belongings to clean out their home. In the process they are finding all these things that they had no idea the family member had kept stuffed in boxes all these years. Some of the stuff has been damaged. Some still in perfect "like new" condition. But all of it, stuffed away in boxes - forgotten about. Had my friend not chosen to go through those boxes - those treasures would be in a landfill somewhere. I like to consider myself the "family historian". I enjoy learning about my ancestors and I enjoy uncovering the stories that go along with how my family lived. I know in my heart of hearts though that ALOT of my family history is gone because there were people who did not care enough to preserve those memories when our loved ones were here with us in the physical earth. I get so passionate about the family history that I can't understand why doesn't everyone do this? Is it because they don't have time? Is it because they think they have to be "crafty"? Do they realize how important it is to cherish all those things? I have just about every newspaper clipping from the 1995 Cleveland Indians championship/world series run - I mean afterall - who knew that they would make it back to the World Series just two years later? It had been 41 years since the last time they had made it and nearly 50 years since they won it all. I have old newspaper clippings of my mother sharing her weight loss story with the Painesville Telegraph back in the 70's - I kept it though she wanted to throw it away - because my mother looked like a star in the photo the journalist took of her.
There are so many people out there that have no idea how much they are missing by not preserving all this kind of stuff. Even today in this digital age - you still should print out those pictures and get them in a high quality, photo safe album. Somehow, someway.
Perhaps I should start taking photos of the scrapbooks that I do and post them here - to show how important it is to keep all these treasures safe.
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