Preserving a Family Legacy
Fifteen years ago, I found myself between jobs and between careers. I was leaving my career at big companies, with lots of work and far travel, for something new. Since I could not puzzle through my next career step, I decided to do something Zen and relaxing.
I bought a scanner and culled through approximately 3000 family photos. They were photos of my son and daughter growing up. I threw away bags of photos. I kept those I wanted to preserve and set about scanning them and putting them in digital files. They spent time with their grandparents. We also went on vacations. They played with their dog and swam. They celebrated birthdays, laughed with friends, started kindergarten, and went off to college.
All these memories are now captured and preserved. I expanded the project to include my and my husband's parents and, when possible, their parents. When I finished after one year, I presented my family with a thumb drive of pictures. Today, they live on Google Drive. Google often sends us images that remind us of cherished memories based on dates, places, or times. When we are thinking of each other, we can take a moment and search our photos for any memory we want to see.
Fifteen years later, I finished my project. I found all our old VCR tapes and 8mm films and had them digitized. I then uploaded them to our folder on Google Drive. I called the Wendt Family Early Years Fun and Frolic. I don't expect anyone to dwell on those precious digitized memories. Everyone is busy with their careers and raising families. Yet when they choose to visit a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent or their younger incarnations the images will be a click away. It is a special gift. They can hear their voices and see their most cherished relationships reenacted.
Today, I love helping clients write about their family businesses and leave them as a legacy. Someone in their family might read it right away. It might get lost on a bookshelf and then found again by the author, their children, or grandchildren. But in that moment, they will transport someone they love to their time, and they can greet each other. My clients will impart the gift of love, values, joy, sorrow, and perseverance. They will open their arms with a warm hug that says “I love you” and receive a return hug that assures “I will not forget you”.