For each year of my son’s life, I have an album with pictures from the various events that transpired throughout his life. Now we get to look back at these albums together and remember our favorite moments at the beach or celebrating special occassions and holidays.
As more people have come to rely on digital photos, I find that fewer people are actually printing out photos. They tend to share them via email and post them on Facebook, which is fantastic, but what happens if our computer systems crash or Facebook dies out or the formats we currently use change and somehow these pictures get wiped out?
I also have a pet peeve about the reliance of texts and emails, for the very same reason. These days so many people communicate electronically, and of course I can see how amazing it is to have instant communication, but I worry about the loss of memories. How many people actually print out emails or texts from loved ones?
During my Spring cleaning process, I have enjoyed reading old love letters or poems written by past loves, and finding pictures of them now brings back fond memories of those youthful days, long gone. I am convinced I would not have saved these things digitally, and that would have been a significant personal loss.
In the end, I am not trying to promote a hoarding complex, and I certainly hope everyone enjoys the benefits of modern technology. I just want to suggest that for our own sake, for our families, and for the generations that come after us, we may want to actually hang on to just a few keepsakes.
By Regina A. DeMeo, Esq.
