“I haven’t seen these people in so long…”

This is a guest post by Harley Cross of Share My Photographs.

When all we have left of beloved friends and family are photographs, their value becomes truly priceless. Understanding this is what motivated one woman to do something truly beautiful…

The story begins on one of those perfect, warm summer mornings with the sun beaming, the birds chirping and the smell of fresh-cut grass in the air. Tom and June were at the yard sale bright and early, looking through an interesting assortment of items laid out neatly on the front lawn of a quaint country home.

June peeked inside an old wooden box for sale and was surprised to discover it was filled with photographs. Being a keen photographer herself, she was delighted by this wonderful collection that spanned several generations and included some very colourful characters. She was puzzled. Why were they for sale?

She approached the homeowner to ask about the photos and he explained that they weren’t his family’s memories, but had been found by his wife, inside a box marked “Free”, outside of a recently abandoned house.

June could not imagine that anyone would abandon such a precious box filled with family history. She felt it must surely have been thrown out by mistake and that someone would be just sick about losing them. June bought that box of photos right then and there having decided that maybe, just maybe – with a bit of detective work – she might reunite these treasures with their rightful owners.

So, this became June’s new project and she spent her summer piecing together clues she found within the images, like street names and local business names. She asked questions at the library, at businesses and spoke to the older residents in town, looking for anyone who may recognize her mystery family.

Finally, June was rewarded with the name, “Mr. Frank Jones” and his address in a neighbouring town.

Good Samaritan that she is, June purchased a nice leather-bound album and placed the many pictures inside. Then, she and Tom made a surprise visit to Mr. Jones.

This story just couldn’t have a happier ending. Mr. Jones was a widower in his 90s with no family left alive that he knew of. A WW2 veteran, he had lost touch with his older brother and sister 15 years previous and was the only sibling who had any children.

When presented with the beautiful album, Mr. Jones spent a long time slowly turning pages as the tears ran down his cheeks. When he turned the last page he finally spoke in a trembling whisper, “Thank you so much. I haven’t seen these people in so long and this has brought back so many wonderful memories. You’ve made an old man very happy.”

This is a true story and it’s just one of the many that inspired the idea behind Share My Photographs. The effects of time, natural disasters and loss are heartbreaking reasons for losing precious family photographs; especially when it is preventable.

At Share My Photographs we help people protect their family history by securely digitizing and archiving these memories for future generations. Please don’t risk delaying any longer. Give us a call and we’ll be pleased to discuss how we can help you organize, secure and share your happy memories, forever.

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