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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] =)

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