My mother is an amateur photographer extraordinaire. Yes, she takes good pictures, but that is not what sets her apart. She takes pictures of everything—flowers in her garden, items Daddy made, zoo animals on family outings, her paintings, and of course, family members.
Everyone in our family knows how Mom wants us to pose for pictures. We have gone through the ritual in every conceivable location—at home, on vacation, at graduations, at the family pond. All have their obligatory poses.
When Mom had surgery a few years back, my brother and I set her up with a desktop computer, printer, and scanner. Since I had to live with her for three weeks, I taught her how to use the equipment. Little did I know we were creating a scanning maniac. Over the next few months, she scanned every picture in her photo albums and those stored in boxes at the back of the hallway closet. She even scanned negatives.
A few months later, Mom had another surgery that required me to stay with her for a couple of weeks. This time I taught her how to use desktop publishing software. Before we knew what happened, the family was being inundated with themed “picture pages.” My niece received two huge notebooks of these themed pages for a graduation present. They chronicled my niece’s life from birth through graduation. Every single picture Mom had of her was duly identified and placed on a picture page.
What a legacy. We have excellent pictures of almost every important and trivial family event for decades.
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. Deuteronomy 32:7
Moses told the Israelites to remember their history. I feel blessed that it will be easy for my family to remember our history because Mom has preserved and labeled the family pictures from her great-grandparents through today.