How to protect your precious family memories
I choose to write this blog this week, because 10 years ago on the 31st December 2008, my dad very suddenly passed away.
It was totally unexpected and threw our family into a world that would never be the same.
My dad was an incredible man, that worked so hard to look after his family and also found time to do so much for others. He always encouraged me to work hard, never give up and to have the courage to stand up for what is right.
When you lose a huge part of your life so suddenly, you don’t have time to prepare yourself.
The first few days I spent listening to an old voicemail 
message from him to remember the sound of his voice. I spent days looking at pictures of him and of pictures of us together. Thankfully, I’ve always printed my pictures and so had albums full of wonderful memories. I’m very grateful that back in the days of film you just had to print your pictures, it forced me to do it.
The picture I treasured the most was actually taken on my phone. It was a picture of him a week before he died. It was a picture of him holding my eldest, who had just come home from a three month stay in the Neo-Natal unit (that’s another story altogether!). It is the only picture I had of my dad and his first grandchild; unfortunately he didn’t get to meet his other five. He looked so proud in it and it brought me sure joy.
I used to love looking at the photo on my phone, but disaster suddenly struck – my phone died. I tried absolutely everything, but just couldn’t get back any of the photos on the phone and now that treasured pictutre is gone. It was heartbreaking that I couldn’t get it back – I can now only see it in my mind.
Please look after your priceless memories
With the blessings that are mobile photos, and the ability to now capture memories in an instance, it is even easier to stop a moment in time and relive that moment for years to come.
But, are you looking after those memories? Those precious afternoons spent together as a family on the beach or those moments on Christmas morning when the whole family are together sharing special times together or perhaps of Grandparents with their Grandchildren?
What would happen if for some reason those images went missing? Or your phone is in your back pocket and you rush to the loo, and said phone ends up at the bottom of the loo??
You’ve lost them. They’ve gone.
There are so many ways to keep them safe
1. Digital copies just aren’t enough, print them!
Create a wall gallery, you’ll find some really helpful tips here How to create your own family photography wall gallery.
Print some special images big for the wall or even create a coffee table photobook https://www.bobbooks.co.uk/products/photobooks.
Whatever you do with them make sure you can enjoy them whenever you want. Also, there is nothing better than seeing an image in real life.
2. Back your images and phones up.
Let’s face it we are all using our phones to capture those special moments. Even me!
There are a number of different ways to back your photos up. On your computer, cloud software or external hard drives.
Here is a really useful article explaining more about the various types of back up options;
Whichever way you choose to protect your memories, make sure you have always have TWO copies.
Make time to do it
I know, I know life is really busy, but make time for this. Block out some time one evening to get your back up plan together and then action it.
Do you have a similar story?
Have you lost someone that meant that world to you and suddenly you only have images left to look at? Or perhaps you too have lost a particular picture of a special time that you’d love to get back. I’d love to hear your story.