MUST READ: Have You Made Provisions in Your Will for Your Photos? From: Ancespration | Created: May 11, 2006 [font=cursive][size=medium]Lots of us don't care to think about the eventuality of our deaths, but it will be just that: eventual. What provisions have you made for how your photographs will be distributed at that time? From first-hand experience, I know how important it is to consider and act on [i][u]now[/u][/i]. :( When my maternal grandmother passed away in the 1980's, I was the first person notified by the nursing home. As a newlywed in my early 20's, I then had the unenviable task of relating the information to my mother. My now-late uncle was the first person to arrive at the nursing home. I can't help but believe that that was how he came to take possession of my grandmother's large Hefty bag of photographs. At the time, Uncle Bert was the third oldest of my grandmother's seven then-living children, with my mother as the oldest. With the exceptions of one uncle in Missouri and another in New Jersey, the remaining siblings resided within the same city. Within a few years, that same uncle passed away, leaving his mother's priceless photographs in the possession of his widow. Those photos were not only of my mother and her siblings when they were children, but they were also of them as young adults with their families. Of most importance was the fact that the bag also contained photos from the youth of each of my grandparents, as well as of both their ancestors. As my maternal grandfather died in 1959, his collection of photos remained with his wife, my grandmother. In a perfect world, the fact that my uncle left those precious photos in the care of his widow would not be an issue. It is, however, when you understand the family dynamics. My late uncle had a disease which he inherited from his father, and which has affected a number of our family members. He had neurofibromatosis [url=http://www.drgreene.com/21_80.html]http://www.drgreene.com/21_80.html[/url] . Consequently, his only child inherited it from him. Sadly, my cousin died in her 40's. Even sadder was the fact that my uncle's widow blamed her husband for her daughter's death. She was also very vocal about her disdain for our family, and she transferred her hatred onto the [u][b][i]entire[/i][/b][/u] family. Now, you should see the irony in the fact that this woman is the one who has possession of a great part of our family legacy: [i]our heirloom photographs![/i] Well, it seems simple enough. She has our family photographs. She hates our family. She should surrender the photos to us. Right? Wrong. Upon being asked by a number of family members for copies of various photos, she denies even having them! Mind you, I have seen her go into the still existent[i] (as of 1992) [/i]Hefty bag to retrieve photos, on occasion. Her contention, to this day, is that she does not have any of our family photos in her possession. It may be true. She may have chosen to destroy them some time ago. At this point in the reading, my hope is that you are now considering who you want to distribute your priceless family heirloom photos to. Even if it means you literally draw up in your will the divisions of hundreds of family photographs, please do so. Don't leave your family in the dilemma that ours is now faced with. If nothing else, make great copies of the photos to keep, and then separate the originals into acid-free parcels that you put into a safe deposit box with the instructions on their division. Then, make sure to select a fair and objective non-family member to oversee their division and distribution upon your death. Whatever you decide to do, [i][u]just [/u][u]do[/u] [u]something[/u][/i]. With something as important as this, [i]inaction[/i] is every bit as important as action. Let the decision be your own.[/font][/size] =) Views: 280 | Add / View Comments (0) 0 rating

Link to Site for Dating Photos (by Fashions) From: Ancespration | Created: May 2, 2006 [font=cursive][size=large][color=orange]Today, I came across this wonderful site called Fashion-Era.com, which was created by Pauline Weston Thomas. One of the features is an area of the site which can aid us in dating our photos based on the fashions featured therein. I will provide the link, and hope that it aids someone![/color] :J [color=red]http://www.fashion-era.com/Dating_Costume_History_Pictures/index.htm[/url][/color][/size][/font][url=http://] Views: 289 | Add / View Comments (0) 0 rating

Choose Carefully Which Photos You Link..... From: Ancespration | Created: Apr 23, 2006 [font=cursive][size=large]No doubt, many of you are as amazed as I am about how this photo pool is developing. People are responding to it far more than I envisioned. [b][i][color=blue] A N T I Q U A T I O N S[/color][/i][/b] is beginning to take on a life of its own! Of course, this makes me very happy. :) For that reason, it's important to maintain the integrity of the site. Please be very cautious when determining the [u][b][i]age[/i][/b][/u] of your photos you'd like to link. Make very sure that they are [u]no newer than 1945[/u]. The goal is that all photos here are from 1945 or earlier. That means that if older than that, they can be as old as you want. They just cannot be later than that year. There are many ways of gauging the age of a photo. Look at the hairstyles, attire, background, even the pose. It's best to look at all those factors, when determining an approximation of a photo's age. If you have a question about a particular photo, just genemail me and I would be happy to view it and render my opinion [i]before[/i] it's posted. :J I would much rather prefer to do that than remove a photo after the fact. :( We are all just in love with our families' histories [i](as we should be)[/i], therefore, I would not want anyone to take personally the removal of their photo(s). By adhering to these guidelines, our enjoyment of these wonderfully unique and precious photos will be enhanced. I thank you wholeheartedly for your enthusiastic participation. :P [/size][/font] Views: 224 | Add / View Comments (0) 0 rating

The A N T I Q U A T I O N S Experience From: Ancespration | Created: Apr 20, 2006 [size=large][font=cursive][color=blue]I have been mulling over this photo pool for the longest time. Finally, I though that it only takes a few moments to set up, so I did it. My hope is that you will both participate in it and enjoy the experience of browsing. If it's successful, then one should feel as if they're flipping pages through their grandparents' old photo album. Enjoy![/color][/font][/size] :P Views: 228 | Add / View Comments (0) 0 rating