names and faces

During the Christmas break I have been sorting through a treasure trove of photographs. I have inherited photo albums and piles of photos from both sides of the family since I have no cousins on either side. As I have said before, I seem to have become the curator of my family's history.

On my mother's side photos were neatly placed in albums, and photographs were labelled with names:

By studying my pedigree chart I have been able to place these people and put faces to the names in my family. As I take their names to the temple I feel I know who they are and I feel a connection with them. These people give me roots and a sense of belonging as I forge the links between generations.

On my father's side however, the photographs do not provide me with any clues at all about who they are.

They could be family members or friends, possibly even suitors? I have been frustrated with the lack of organisation or even a little note on the back of the photo until I realised something....

 "Hello, Kettle.... My name is "Pot" and you're black...."

My own recent photo collection is extensive. I never did get around to beautifully crafted scrapbooks or photoalbums after the children were born. There are photos in albums that are not labelled or dated... and piles of photographs in a box. Then there are the multiple digital albums....

 I am not so different to my g grandparents. Maybe they did not anticipate that a couple of generations on someone would want to know who they were and be interested in their lives. Maybe they assumed that the information would be passed on?

I try to give my children roots and connect them to their ancestors by telling them the stories I was told when I was a child adding stories from my own childhood. My new year's resolution is to go one step (or 5) further by working on my personal history, and to organise all our photos into albums whether hardcopy or digital so that my children and their children will be able to put names to faces.