I’m sure many of you who have been on this grief journey for more than 20+ years have old videos, pictures and maybe perhaps audio of your loved ones. As I sat shuffling through old VHS tapes it dawned on me that time is of the essence to get them moved to digital.
I have tried in the past to do it myself. Even bought a VHS to DVD recorder, but those DVD’s won’t play on anything else but the same recorder. Frustrated, I left it be for years. I do mean years. But now I find myself determined to get this done. To find away to move these to a USB myself.
I don’t trust sending these precious memories off to a 3rd party to process. I fear the worst would happen and they’d be lost forever. Returning grief to a fresh and painful presence. So off to Google I went looking for a solution, which I found and it worked swimmingly. I have a lot to convert and I can’t wait to see how the rest turn out.
But all of this got me thinking how fortunate people are today vs how we managed 20+ years ago. Smartphones were not yet available, at least to me, nor my daughter. We both had flip phones which were archaic, if one admits. Technology has advanced so much and fortunately we are the beneficiaries of such. The memories we can have at our fingertips is a blessing for sure.
Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram are full of family memories. While, I feel fortunate to have videos and pictures of my daughter to look back on; but the quality isn’t as good as today. I have no videos or recordings of my mom. Her voice sorely missed from my life. All I have is a letter she wrote to me telling me how proud she was of me. When I truly need an uplift – her letter is where I go.
I can’t help but think how fortunate we are today to have such wonderful tools to document our life; our families and their lives. Such a treasure to have for a lifetime to share with others. We are fortunate these days indeed. Treasure that.
Until next time,
M
Unimaginable Grief Unexpected Blessings 
Good morning, and I hope 2024 brings you lots of inspiration and some good times. Regarding memories and photos, I lost my daughter in 2012. I live in a big house and have boxes and boxes and boxes full of photos and memorabilia, her old school exercise books and cards and letters etc. I wish I had someone to help me digitise these memories, because now am trying to downsize and these things are so important but I can’t even look at them without having a tearful breakdown. Thank you for this but could you please tell me the easiest way to digitise them.
HI Sarah, Thank you for your kind words. I can share with you what worked for me but I’ll tell you everyone is different and what you have to prepare for is that it will indeed hit you and as you go through things, it may make you cry because of the memories and pine for her. I know because it’s happened to me. I just did a TikTok about it on my daughter’s angel date. I did a memory scrapbook many years ago and while it was so difficult to do – I treasure it so much now. I also made a picture book of her art work from school and matched it to her poetry – I plan to publish it soon.
I think perhaps if you make a list of the things you want to do and go at them one at a time; it will be less difficult and strenuous. My daughter was a giving spirit – always giving away her clothes and belongings to those less fortunate – so it made sense to me that I had to continue that legacy. I gave away her bedroom suite to a lovely gal who was so touch and she sent me a picture and that meant everything. I gave her computer to her best friend who had nothing. My daughter’s spirit really helped me make decisions, while still very hard, that I knew she would be proud of.
Don’t be afraid to start the process. You will cry. That’s ok. It’s a means to heal. And a way to honor your daughter. There are places like Sam’s and Costco that have ways to help digitize things. You could try and find those things that really touch you and take them to one of those places and see how that goes. I would love to know how it goes Sarah. Sending you all the love and strength as you enter this journey. – Mal