If telling your family’s story using photos and videos is overwhelming, then try this method of using a small number of photos to chronicle your life or a loved one’s life.
If you don’t know me, I’m a photo coach who enjoys helping families safeguard their stories for now and the distant future.
How do I do it?
I use FOREVER® which is the only true permanent storage solution available.
This means you’re not just storing photos for yourself and the next decade, but you’re leaving a family legacy, guaranteed for your lifetime plus 100 years but a goal beyond.
Whoever you designate will have access to manage your files.
You have full control over your digital albums and can say what’s private, what can be shared with family and friends, and what, if any, are available for the general public. I’ll gladly tell you how this works.
Exciting.
Descendants you’ll never meet will look into the photos, videos, awards, documents, and other files that you’ve digitized or uploaded from your phone.
How many photos do you need to store to tell a life story?
I know that many of us have hundreds and thousands of photos on our phones, plus our other electronic devices. The average user has about 1,900 photos and videos on their smartphone.
Think this through with me.
Try illustrating a life story with only a dozen or so photos and videos.
How can you possibly do that?
Find pics for these key life stages and then read my summary after this list.
First steps
Parents and grandparents should cherish those first steps, moving from being an infant to literally standing and moving on one’s own feet.
This is a milestone worth preserving and it’s a bridge from infancy into the toddler stage.
Early school years
I like this photo of my daughter, starting kindergarten many years ago and getting that tiny sense of independence.
Do you remember going to kindergarten or what it felt like walking into first grade?
How did you feel? How did you cope?
Sports, Arts, Sciences
Our interests show some of who we are.
Like this photo of me as a high school cheerleader. You can see how fashions have changed.
I’m an avid golfer and I play pickleball so choosing a few golf shots of me over the years shows a bit of my personality.
What was your child’s or grandchild’s first science fair like? A success or disaster?
Any musical interests?
Here’s my grandfather in 1924 as a high school senior. This is 100 years ago. Honestly, I’m a child of the 1960s and the Roaring 20s doesn’t seem that long ago.
We can’t tell much about him from this one photo, but add a few more photos and maybe a few letters and we get a sense of who he is.
Action photos convey personality. You can see my daughter’s determination in this photo as she dribbles toward the goal.
Milestones
Graduations, weddings, first car, business, home are milestones worth preserving along with photos with kids, grandkids and vacations or other events.
I know you can have hundreds of photos of the same person and same places like your hometown.
You don’t need to try and save everything for two key reasons:
#1 Our minds do a wonderful job of filling in a story because we’ve shared similar experiences like starting school, having dreams of being a sports star or scientist, and having relationships.
Read on for reason #2.
Saving memories in FOREVER®
The 2nd reason you don’t need to save everything is storing in FOREVER® gives you space to write brief notes or detailed descriptions about the photo, video, or other file. You can even talk to text.
Here’s a photo of me and my siblings. In the margin, I have when the photo was taken and a description.
Someone who looks into the photos in the distant future can also read who the person is or people are, why this is important, and when the photo was taken.
FOREVER® makes it easy to create a life story.
Here are other reasons why FOREVER® is so useful:
- You own your account, so you own all the digital rights to your content. This isn’t true on all other sites.
2. Digitizing your printed photos, slide shows, home movies and more is convenient using FOREVER®’s digitization service.
3. Store your memories in one safe space that’s triple backed up and private.
The FOREVER® Guarantee Fund ensures that your files will be migrated to the newest formats as they become available.
4. Photo books and gifts are easy to print using the files in your account.
5. Research your family history with FOREVER®’s professional genealogists. Get a consultation or have work done in depth like I’ve done.
Do you have questions about telling a life story?
You have a life story to share.
Once you get a framework in place using a small number of files then you can add to it.
Leaving your legacy is important and future generations can learn about you and about themselves.
Contact me with questions you might have about organizing memories and using FOREVER® to tell a life story.
I’ll show you how the platform works and how it’s easy to use and yet does so much.
Click here to join one of my online events to learn more and meet others who are safeguarding their memories.