One Year of Silver Heartbeats
A year ago, I started what may be a lifelong project: archiving and restoring photographs and other memories of my maternal grandparents. I realize it is a very personal anniversary, but in one year of doing this work, I’ve learned a lot, and I can’t wait to continue this project and improve my process.
For those few who currently follow, I’ll try and get into how this all began. My late grandmother (Grandma Pat)’s health took a turn early in 2018. She had been sick on and off from the start of the year, and after fighting off a flu and other illnesses, she found herself weak, and at age 89 decided to enter hospice. It was hard news for me to take. I was very lucky to grow up with such a wonderful, supportive, and loving set of grandparents I was so close to. My grandfather passed in 2011 after having heart problems much of his life. I watched my grandmother continue to have a big spirit and zest for life even as she went into her eighties. Mobility was an issue for a long time, and she had a couple of health scares--but she was clearly a magical, special human and never gave up and always pushed for happiness. When she did seem to give up, it hit me hard.
But that spirit never left her, and this was true until her body could no longer support her. I wish I would have started this project much earlier, but as we were cleaning her apartment out from independent living, I came across some old photos, and brought them to where her room was in hospice to ask her about them. Now, her mind was incredibly sharp. She was able to tell me who everyone was, and often stories about them. I took a box home and got to work scanning and digitally restoring. We visited every so often to share photographs and discuss the precious memories.
She passed in September, but my work continued on, and still continues on. In that time I’ve restored photographs I never thought I’d be able to save, and some still stump me to a point where they are mostly unfinished. In this time I’ve managed to have access to more photos and ephemera than when I started with, and have been able to learn more about my family’s history even after my grandparents have passed through studying genealogy and through the help of some extended relatives I was able to connect with through social media.
I have many takeaways as I mentioned one year into this process. I realized months in that my organization/cataloging process was not the best (and I still haven’t figured out the best way to do that). I quickly learned that my digital restoration skills will always be improving and that I might have to revisit photographs I deemed “complete.” I learned of so many new stories memories that I never knew of, and many were corrected from what I had thought before. This personal journey has been one of discovery, growth, and love.
Most of all, I’ve re-learned the importance of preserving our families’ histories. I have seen personal photographs for sale or for free at rummage sales, antique malls, on Etsy, and other resale shops as they are unwanted. To me, this is quite sad. These were people that once lived and how are we to know their identities if the family was willing to abandon the ephemera? I am so fortunate that Grandma Pat kept so many memories and I am able to pass them down for future generations
