I have a photo of my sister and I from my high school senior pictures that has been with me for countless moves. It was in a really sad frame, and needed updating. I pulled it from my dresser and set it beside my bag to bring in for re-framing. It took a couple days for me to realize I hadn’t left the house with it, and it was gone. After scouring the house, I found it on my 6-year-old’s desk. I didn’t think much of it, put it back by my purse and the following day it had vanished again! Finally (I’m kinda slow), after retrieving it for the third time, I asked why he kept putting it on his desk. “I just really love looking at you and aunt Kelly when you were young and pretty”. At least he was honest!
It reminded me of the wedding photo I have of my parents. I’ve loved that photo since I was a young girl and when my mother gave it to me I was sad to realize the glass had adhered to photo. Being a custom framer, I’ve promised myself that won’t happen to the family photos I pass down to my son.
I ultimately framed the photo to hang in my own room again. I selected a wider frame to make it large enough to hang on the wall. Because I was thinking about the photo eventually going to my son and potentially his children, I added an inscription “The McElvain Girls”. Part inside joke, part preservation of my maiden name for any family member that comes upon the photo in 80+ years. Ultimately, family photos are one of the greatest tangible things we can pass down. So make prints, and for the important ones, frame them to last more than a lifetime.
