Yep, you read that right.
But I’m not suggesting you box up those memories and hide them in the attic. Instead, display them in shadow boxes so everyone can enjoy them.
Many military families have collections of generational memorabilia. So often, even the smallest thing can be a precious memory to someone further down the family line.
I was inspired when a friend of ours, Eddy Halford, shared what he’d done with his father’s World War II memories.
Wilbert Edgar Halford served in the army in Germany as a medic. Eddy took all the things that would inhabit drawers, boxes and photo albums into put them together. Now, safely behind glass, these bits and pieces illustrate that time in his father’s life.
But what if you’re like us, and you don’t have much from previous generations? Here are some other suggestions:
-
Take old dog tags and have them framed with a newspaper clipping referring to the war.
-
Don’t discard that old purple heart license plate, instead have it framed. (We did this for our son with his grandfather’s license plate, and it’s one of his prized possessions.)
-
Pull those old letters from a soldier to his sweetheart out of the envelopes and have them framed along with picture of the lovebirds. (If you don’t have an early picture, use a current one.)
Seeing this has also inspired me to begin gathering things that pertain to our son’s more recent time in the Marine Corps. As our family tree continues to grow, we need to be good stewards of these memories and the small things we have that illustrate them.
Here are some tips to make sure the memories happening right now in your family aren’t lost:
- Take plenty of pictures. Snapshots are a great way to capture what’s happening in our lives.
- Save those emails. During the most recent conflicts, email has replaced letter writing. Don’t clean out your inbox and destroy something future generations will cherish.
- Don’t discount videos. Even though there may not be a good way to display videos, we all know that technology is coming. So be prepared.
These are just a start to the list. I’d love to know what you’d add to it. Be sure to share your tips for memory keeping in the comments section below.
