‘friendly collaboration with Bonusprint‘
The older I get, the more fascinated I become with my family tree.
It might be because my loved ones are so far away, or maybe it’s because I did one of those DNA tests a while back and was shocked (in a great way) to discover my genetic makeup was 30 percent Irish.
My maternal grandfather emigrated to New Zealand from Glasgow, so I knew I’d find Celtic blood in there, but when I asked around no one in my family knew our Scottish heritage actually went all the way back to the Emerald Isle. It explained my green eyes and my youngest daughter’s gorgeous strawberry blonde hair; not technically a genetic gift from her flame-haired Scottish grandfather after all, but passed down from an ancient Irish relative.
On my mother’s other side there’s a line of strong, stubborn and capable women, going back to my beloved Nana, who’s in the photo above, wearing the dark coat. Impressively independent for a woman of her generation, she was as rich in resilient as she was short in patience (she doesn’t suffer fools gladly, as my mum used to say).
I knew these character traits had been passed down to all the females who came after her (our stubbornness is legendary) but it wasn’t until Mum sent me this photo that I realised just how much I looked like her too.
HOW TO PRESERVE MEMORIES & TRAVEL BACK IN TIME
But that’s the incredible thing about photos – they’re not just pretty pictures, they allow us to travel back in time and give us a front row seat to some of our family’s most historic moments – weddings and christenings and big family get togethers – that’d otherwise be lost as years pass and memories fade.
I’ve spoken many times about the power of photographs and how important I think it is to capture memories on film, not just so we can look back on them ourselves, but also to connect us with the generations that came before, so our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren can understand where they came from.
Genetics are a crazy and contrary thing – my children don’t look much like me at all, yet my sister (who doesn’t look anything like me either) has a daughter whose resemblance to me is quite uncanny. While it’s surreal, seeing your face on someone else’s body, in a funny way it’s comforting too as it brings a sense of belonging and the knowledge you’re an integral part of a genetic jigsaw that began long before you were here, and will continue to piece itself together long after you’re gone.
Being on the other side of the world from my family watch my daughters grow up through photographs and videos. By sharing images of our lives we’re able to stay connected, even though we’re half a world away. I have so many albums from over the years, but since the girls have been born I’ve struggled to find enough spare time to print my favourite photos and sort them all out.
But I’ve figured out how to preserve memories and keep long-distant loved ones in the loop – I now get our photos published into physical books we can keep forever. Each book has a general theme – either a particular time period or a specific event, such as a family holiday. It’s so much easier to keep track of the images; instead of flicking through endless albums, trying to find the right one, you just select the particular book you need (girls’ birthdays, trip to Bali, etc).
My mum was supposed to travel here last year, until the small matter of a global pandemic brought an unexpected end to our plans. Instead, I created a photo book of all the little things we got up to over our ‘Stay at Home’ summer – water slides in the back garden, toasting marshmallows on the fire pit, welcoming our mini dachshund puppy, Frankie, into the family – and sent it to Mum.
Was it as good as being here in person? Of course not, but at least, in a tiny way, she still got to share in our summer shenanigans.
As soon as she can travel safely we’ll create another photo book of treasured memories, but this time with her in them too.
If you enjoyed ‘How to Preserve Memories’, read: Family Photos // Why They’re so Important to Me
