Those who know me, remember that just 2 months after my husband and I got married, our house flooded. I’ve written about it several times over the years. We had many loses that day…wedding gifts, my beloved recipe book filled with recipes from my mom and grandma, all my shoes…even our cars.
The most devastating loss was all my photos. Several years before, my mom had made each of my siblings and I photo albums with all the pictures from our childhoods. In those books were old photos from my grandparents and great grandparents.
I loved that album. I kept it in a little chest along with all of my other photos in the office area just off the kitchen. When the flood happened, that area was submerged in 2 feet of water…and so were my photos.
When the water finally subsided 3 days later and we were able to get inside the house, the devastation was everywhere. And my chest with all my photo albums had floated down the basement stairs where it was still under water until my brother arrived with a trash pump to literally pump the water from my basement. They were ruined.
We began to put our lives back together. It was hard. And I buried those losses deep down for as long as I could. Then my mom very unexpectedly passed away. My brothers, sisters and I were tasked with putting together photo boards to display at the wake. Everyone brought out their albums and began the bitter sweet job of looking through years and years of photos. I had none. I think that’s when I finally broke down. Although I had the memories, I no longer had anything tangible to look at.
It was at that time that I made a quiet promise to myself that I wouldn’t lose my pictures ever again. I take them constantly. My kids just instinctively smile when presented with a camera. We get professional photos taken with rigid regularity by our favorite family photographer. I back everything up to multiple cloud sites. They are displayed all about my home and I print books each year.
Because although my kids will always have the memories, they will also have something to hold onto so that can share those memories with the people they love.
I am writing for the 18th annual Slice of Life challenge presented by Two Writing Teachers.
Karyn In The Kitchen 
I am sorry to hear about your photos. I understand how it feels to lose those photos, as my grandmother had a very similar experience and lost her photo album too. However, I am glad to hear that this experience has made photos valuable to you. I am sure that your children will appreciate your preservation of those photos!
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Given the context, your very organized approach to family photos makes perfect sense. Nine years ago, my in-laws (husband’s dad and stepmother, his sister and one of his two brothers, plus their assorted spouses and children) ALL lost everything all at once in a massive wildfire that burned up most of their tiny California town. They all lived on the same street, which happened to be the one where the fire sparked. Many things that could not be replaced were destroyed, and the loss that comes up most often is the photos. Three generations of our family lost all their tangible memories all at once. We have all been grateful and bittersweet when picture memories pop up on Facebook, because although others shared pictures when they could, that remains the only place that some of the photos can be seen. Your children are lucky that they will have so many beautiful photos of their memories, and back-ups too. Just in case.
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The grief of your loss comes through so poignantly. It sounds like you have found a meaningful way to honor that loss and heal.
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