Archive Queen

I had a great idea; sort through the family's photographs in preparation for moving to my new apartment in Lakewood. Trim down my "collection" and divide the extra kids' photos and memorabilia into a series of albums and scrapbooks and then give these books to my kids, Kate, Jill and Paul to keep. Sounds simple, doesn't it?

There are hundreds. HUNDREDS of photos of my family, friends, homes, vacations, sporting events, pets, school photos, school functions, violin recitals, french horn recitals, award ceremonies, Hoop Shoot contests, soapbox derby races, fishing trips, hunting trips, motorcycles rides, bikes, golfing, cars, proms, weddings, home improvement and anything that stood still long enough to be photographed. It all adds up to a huge amount of paper.

The oldest photo I have is of my grandmother, Mary, from around 1905. It's the earliest photo there is of her since she left Hungary in April 1912 and photos weren't something her poor family took advantage of. On a footnote, I found her immigration record from Ellis Island that documented the day she arrived from Bremen, Germany. On her record she is just a number, with a notation that she had $75 in her pocket and a relative in New Jersey. No record of the relative was ever found. Notice the date? She arrived a few days after the Titanic sank. She was in the North Atlantic the same time that tragedy happened. Did she know?

So, I'm the keeper of the archives.

That's a loose term. It means I have dozens of boxes and albums in assorted boxes and plastic containers and sorting through it is overwhelming.

Apparently it's safe to leave your memories with me.