I'm going to get a little dark on you. When was the last time you held an actual photograph in your hands? Until a couple of years ago I was one with the digital age. I loved my cloud storage, prime storage, external hard drives, etc. Until my Gramps passed away. Don't get me wrong he lived a full and happy life, probably fuller than 90% of us can ever imagine. But in the aftermath when we were working to grieve and heal one of things we did was comb through boxes of old photographs to create a story board of his life. Not surprisingly we had boxes of albums of the family, but then fewer and fewer as we got closer to current. Finally, we were searching through iPhone storage, the Clouds, etc. trying to find images of him, or more preciously - him and us - and send them quickly to the 1-hour printing lab.
My memory is terrible. You'd think I'm trying to repress my life it's so terrible. But while we were searching through those old albums and boxes, I could remember. Each little print was a filed away memory that someone, probably my Granny, saved away so we could share in their joy decades later. And this is what I want for my kiddos. I want them to have little glimpses into our happy life and their childhood. I want them to have tangible pieces to hold and share that will never be lost due to failed hardware, expired subscriptions or obsolete technology.
Now each month as I finish editing all my favorites photos from the month prior, I print them. Not just the 1-hour photo lab, but I send them out and have them printed on quality, archival paper that I know will still be fresh and bright long after our (my) memories have faded. I’ve even gone one step further and started planning displays around my home with these prints. My littles love seeing themselves in portraits used as decor. Often they will point and say, “remember when we…”. I think it makes them feel important and reminds them of how loved they are. And in this way I leave a legacy for my kiddos and family.