Four lots of house clearance from different branches of the families have produced folder after folder of random photographs. Many have been stuffed in our attic for years, and we are now reaching saturation. It seems so disrespectful not to go through them all, but it takes a really long time. And it is hard. I don’t share photos of living family – these people are long since dead – but the images are so evocative. Many are around a hundred years old – different times, different lives – and so many stories. It can be overwhelming. We are probably the last generation to have any idea who some of these people are (were). My children have a passing interest in social history – but seem to care very little about their ancestors! Perhaps that comes much later – I’m sure I felt the same.
The families are mixed up here – at least I can sort that much. The task is not helped, though, by well meaning people who left it too late….they have sometimes written their best guesses on the back of the photos – and got it wrong – at times by a whole generation…
A message for us here? I too have packets and packets of those yellow Kodak envelopes filled with (mostly) terrible holiday snaps from the 1980s…my solution for those? The nearest recycling bin, preferably without another glance.
SpinningStreak 