Photo Albums

Lanee and Rebecca have taken advantage of their mutual break time to consolidate all of our family photographs, which had been stashed away in neglected albums and boxes, mostly unseen. Now we have robust three-ring binders with acid-free pages filled with photos from roughly 1980 until 2001, organized chronologically.

I looked through them this morning, taking advantage of their efforts to relive so many memories. Of course there are hundreds of photos of the children when young, but also parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, friends, neighbors and others. There are plenty of now-ridiculous styles to laugh at (what were we thinking with those glasses?), and many memories came flooding back, of family events, traditions and teams; of favorite shirts and old houses and cars; family vacations and the births of every child.

During holidays and family events, I expect that we will get out these albums, pass them around, laugh and share memories, ask questions and reminisce. I'm looking forward to that.

The photos end about 2001, when I got my first digital camera. We haven't printed many of those, but they can be found on hard drives and Flickr and a few random discs. I love technology, but once again I wistfully mourn the passing of an age-old tradition--family photo albums, and wonder how future generations will share their memories and relive their past.