by Teresa Townsend, Tapestry, LLC
Seeing the faces or places mentioned in a story helps bring it to life, and having the story behind a photo brings new meaning and appreciation to it. This was true for my own story.
A few months before my mother passed away, I was showing her photos of her early years that I had digitized. Looking at these old photos brought back memories for her, and she began to tell me a story about butchering day on the farm, in which the boys would pin a pig tail onto someone’s backside without the person knowing. As she told the story, I remembered a photo I had scanned of butchering day. I looked it up and zoomed in, and there it was—one of the brothers pinning a pig tail onto the back of someone’s pants! I hadn’t noticed this detail before and never would have known to look for it if she hadn’t told me the story. In fact, without knowing the shenanigans behind the image, the photo may have ended up just being discarded.
Mother continued telling me stories while looking at the digitized photos. Enlarging the photos on a on a computer screen was helpful for her due to her declining eyesight. On other days, we baked her favorite family recipes as she reminisced about her relatives and fun times growing up.
From these collections of stories, scanned handwritten recipes, and digitized photos, I created a book for her. Mom enjoyed reading through this book every day and could recall stories from long ago with family and friends. Nursing staff were also able to know more about her beyond just being a patient, and the stories are now preserved for future generations.
I began my journey as a personal historian because I saw stories fading away with each loved one lost—regrets over questions not asked and stories not captured. I don’t have that regret with my mother, and I am so grateful to have given her the gift of telling her story before it was too late.
Here are some ways to use photos to encourage storytelling with your family:
- Reunions and other family gatherings are great opportunities for story sharing. Bring photo albums and take notes as people reminisce over the photos, or record their stories on a digital recorder.
- Visit older family members and let them share memories behind old photos. If there are no photos, pictures can be found on the internet of the make and model of their first car, historical events, and places where they lived or traveled.
- Remember to look for details in the photo. People or items in the background may give clues to the rest of the story.
- Have a magnifying glass handy and/or digitize photos for easy viewing.
- If you have grandchildren, look at photos with them! They may come up with questions that they might not otherwise think to ask. What questions do wish you had asked your grandparents?
It is important to keep photos safe while viewing. Making copies and placing in protective sleeves for viewing will help protect from damage. You wouldn’t want to pass around an original photo of your great-great-grandfather.
Remember to listen, ask questions, and most of all, capture the stories!