If you have ever helped clean out the home of a relative who has passed away, you might have found a collection of old photographs, letters or videos hidden in their storage.
While it’s fun to speculate about the stories behind the items from the memory box, there is a chance you might never actually know the people, places or moments captured.
If your grandparents are still alive, you have a great opportunity to find out this information first-hand, while also helping safeguard their memories for generations to come.
With a little time and effort, you could be well on your way to making sure your grandparents memories live on forever.
Top five reasons you should capture grandparents memories while they are still alive
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Find the story from the source
It would be almost impossible to go about digitizing your grandparents’ memories after they are gone – especially if they were the only person left alive who could identify the mystery woman appearing in almost every photo album.
Speaking to your grandparents allows them to talk you through a memory to provide a more detailed description and background. It will also allow them to decipher their handwriting.
Why rely on guesswork when you have the source right there?
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Find our more about where you’re from
Talking to your grandparents would help you find out more about their childhood, but it could also create a new itch to dig deeper into your family history – who knows what you could find.
You also get the added benefit of knowing your grandparents are going to love sharing their memories with their children and grandchildren.
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Share the love with your family
Once the memories of your grandparents have been digitized, you could use basic photo & video editing software and put together a short video or slideshow.
If you store your memories in the cloud, you can give access to tech-savvy family members so they could view or add content at any time.
You could also host a viewing party and invite all of your extended family over to your home as a surprise for your grandparents.
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Learn more about history in general
If you’re helping your grandparents digitize their memories, you’re taking a deep dive into the past.
The benefit of this would be getting a bigger insight to moments that shaped the world during your grandparents lifetime.
Chances are you could also run into some old tech like 8mm cameras, 8-track tapes, floppy disks or an old VHS recorder – get ready for a nostalgia overload.
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You might inspire others to contribute
Now you have digitized your grandparents memories, you have started to safeguard your family’s memories so they could be enjoyed by your children’s children.
After seeing how convenient and inspiring digitized memories can be, your family members might decide to do the same to their own, which would help build a digital family tree.
What are you waiting for? Go and organise a time to sit down with your grandparents.
