Preserving Photos and Memorabilia

Preserving photos in this digital age is important. We are all just one computer crash away from lost memories and photos, so it is important not to lose those precious memories, particularly if your child has died and memories and photos are all you have left of that child.

We depend on computers and as we all know, computers can fail us. Also the ever-changing technology can cause loss of photos even though we don’t remove them from outdated memory cards or old cameras.

I remember I used to put all my photos in magnetic albums, which were very popular. These types of albums were found to hasten the deterioration of photos. When I heard that I checked all my old albums and not only were the photos faded, but they stuck to the magnetic clear plastic and/or the backing that held the photos tightly in place.

I immediately took out all the photos, bought new albums with slip in clear plastic coverings and I am hoping this helps to keep them from fading completely. So far I have been very happy.

One woman, Wendy Vaniglia from Palm Beach, Florida went one step further rescuing her photos 16 years after her middle daughter, Candi, died from complications of a congenital brain condition. She created her first scrapbook, the story of Candi’s life, using materials that would preserve her image.

Wendy began talking about the benefits of photo restoration to others and soon launched her own business. She now sells photo preservation software and she creates custom photo books and other gifts made with photos such as mugs, calendars, mouse pads, greeting cards, thank you notes and posters for special events. You can take all kinds of memorabilia, like a poem, something the child wrote or made, not only photos significant to your child’s life, and have Wendy create a memory book. She believes not only is she preserving pictures, but preserving the story of a life.

If you live in the Florida area, she also gives free Fun with Photos sessions or you can reach her at www.personal-photo-organizer.com/florida/251-wendy-vaniglia.html . It is certainly worth the peace of mind to know that your child will be with you in the creative ways you preserve photos and memorabilia as well as always having a special place in your heart.