Print your digital photos to preserve your memories!

When I look through my collection of favorite family photos, I think what a gift it is to be able to capture that one moment in time, now preserved for decades to come. This bit of photographic paper I can hold in my hand carries with it the power of memory, inspiration, and gratitude for the richness of life. A collection of photographs tells the stories of our lives, who we are, where we came from, what contributed to who we are now, what is important to us, where we are going.

Most of us have great photographs stored on our phones but few are printed, which limits their accessibility and preservation of memories. I say all this to advise you to make it a habit to regularly print at least a few of your favorite photos.  Otherwise, those precious memories will be lost forever.

Thankfully many of our ancestors went to great pains and expense to get formal portraits done on a seemingly limited budget. One of my prized photos is an exquisite portrait of my Grandfather Webb Hester as small child being held by his mother.

Beyond the formal portraits, the snapshots of daily life always bring back wonderful memories. My Dad did a good job of documenting our childhood and many of those photos still bring a smile to my face. Then as a young adult I became the unofficial family photographer and began capturing snapshots and portraits of all my family members.

Now that both of my parents have passed on, I’m so grateful for the photos I captured of them. One afternoon my parents were bragging about how they could still fit into clothes from many years past so Dad put on his Army jacket and Mom put on her wedding suit and that’s when I captured one of my favorite photos of them.

These photos were taken on film back when my nephews were little guys. It started out with them just sitting on the front steps at my Dad's house. In the frame before this, I got the idea to have them pose as the three monkeys - hear no, speak no, see no evil. It took a little trial and error but we eventually got it (sort of). 

This series always brings a big smile to my face...