Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Cousins Project

Deb: Nostalgia has been burning bright in my heart these last weeks and so I decided to start something called The Cousins Project where I go through all of my Mum and Dad’s photo albums, scan old photos, and share them on Facebook. We are a very large family on both sides and I wanted to reach out to as many family and friends as I could. It is a very therapeutic project.
Me, Granny, Grampa, Mike Munro Pro Golfer and Linda.

I cannot tell you what joy I have found in it. I’ve placed the scanner on the table where Colin and I work and have vowed to leave it there until the project is done. Some days I scan forty pictures, some days one. I am putting no pressure on myself and I am putting them out there as the albums present themselves to me in random fashion. The idea came to me because whenever I am at Mum and Dad’s looking for a particular photo, they pour through the albums I have pulled down from the shelves as if seeing them for the first time. Most of the time the albums are up on shelves collecting dust.  So I had the idea to make them each a single manageable album featuring the greatest hits of their lives! That way they can keep the album on hand and pour over it every single day if they wish. It will feature the best of their lives, young and old, right up to present day. It will be filled with everything from old friends to grown grandchildren. And I know it will fill them with loving thoughts, every time they crack open the cover. I will slightly custom it for each of them to include their individual and shared favourite moments and friends.
Pammy's birthday with Pam with her lovely toothy smile, baby Jennifer, Linda, and a little girl I recognize so much but cannot place with a name. Anyone????

When I started pouring through the photos with their dated, labeled, white-serrated edges, I found myself enthralled with the images of loved ones that we have lost and the long ago shots of babies who now have children and grandchildren of their own. I knew I had to share them. The pictures themselves are not always the best quality and some of them are literally fading away, loaded into my computer just in time to save part of the faint image. Some are out of focus and have heads cut off, which has long been a particular talent of my Dad’s. But wow, the emotions they evoked.
Auntie Isabel dancing with Dad. I know it doesn't look like it, but they really liked each other! :-)
Dad's black eye courtesy of my giant baby noggin konking him in eye. 

I knew that others in the family would love to see these treasures and that’s when The Cousins Project was born. I put the photos on Facebook as I could think of no other way to reach all the cousins in a broad and timely manner. The only drawback I could see was that all my FB friends who are not in my family would have to endure the stream of pictures all summer long. But I was so happy to see that many of my FB friends seem to enjoy this glimpse into the past, even though it is not their past. Myself, I love to see old shots on people’s profiles and as it turns out, I am not the only one who loves this. So that happy fact has made me feel less guilty about bombarding FB with my past!  And the very best part is that the cousins are loving it. We are all walking down memory lane together, hand in virtual hand, seeing ourselves as babies, growing up together as friends united by family ties.
Uncle Don doting on newborn Mark. Lovely shot. 

So far I have only reached out to half of my family—the Munro clan. I have no one from the McGrath clan on Facebook, but I have reached out to cousins on that side and I am about to launch Cousins Phase Two.

There have been so many special moments in this project so far. Because the photos have been trapped in albums, I have never in my life seen the backs of them. These special little treasures have included wonderful notes on the backs of many of the photos, written from mother to mother, sister to sister, friend to friend. At the end of the project I will mail hard copies of any special shots to the cousins who want them.

I found that I really needed a project of the heart right now in my life. Something wonderful and out of the ordinary. I worried that it might be a melancholy venture, but as it turned out it was anything but. Scanning all the faces of those we lost too soon and those we lost in old age was not sad at all. The sadness has given way to a warm wash of memories. Sweet sweet memories that are growing and building with every photo remembered. And as each cousin adds a comment and a memory to the project, I am reminded of our oh so many shared experiences. And although we don’t see each other often, The Cousins Project is bringing us together in the present, as we remember fondly our past.
And beautiful baby Deb!!!
(adjective and exclamation marks courtesy of Barbara :) )

Barbara: As one of your friends who is also a FB friend, I can add my voice to the chorus of approval for having this access to your sweet old photos! I just LOVE seeing these. I can’t say why, given that they aren’t my family, but I just gravitate to these images, wanting to delve into that moment in a photo and then that one in another, maybe seeing a little deeper into your life by glimpsing your past.

I love old photos, but haven’t found this kind of commitment myself. Photos are still kind of willy-nilly throughout here. But this makes me really want to scan to keep them. And also to get my hands on old photos from my parents to add to my collection. I think it is a lovely idea for our kids and their kids too!

32 comments:

  1. I love seeing old photos Deb, I could look at them for hours. I love the clothes, the big "get -together s", the hair , the hats, the story of a family growing. Seeing you and your cousins, this is such a gift from you to them. You can see how this past year, your concern for your aging parents, and the loss of a good friend, have all affected you so deeply. And, you come up with diamonds once again! Thank you for sharing your journey in to the past with us! I Love the beautiful picture of you in that big chair with the even bigger smile!!

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    1. Thanks Mary-Jo, the challenges of the past while are certainly part of the motivation for it. Yeah I love that baby me photo. My Dad's eldest brother Peter took that shot of me at my Grandma's house.

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    2. I agree Mary-Jo, this is diamonds! Deb, you really are a walking, breathing, living blessing to all those in your life!

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  2. What a gorgeous happy little baby you were!!

    I read recently that more photos have been taken in the last 2 years than in the rest of history combined... Amazing huh?! Makes those beautiful old photos even more special.

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  3. Thanks Samara. I think I love that photo so much because I think it's me. Happy me. I think that shot was a glimpse into the mood with which I would live.

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  4. AAWWWWWWH !!!!!! I WAS WAITING FOR THIS ONE....As a friend and a FB friend..... I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEED THESE...ALL of 'em !!!!!!!!!!!! And Not exaggerating but I got back to your profile to see them...A LOT.
    Oh and the last one is so precious with you SOOOOO adorable (Barb, being an exclamation queen, I say the exclamation marks weren't enough so "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" :D).....
    And Oh I just loved seeing the pix on FB I keep telling my mom you are really committed to this and I so admire that... My mom wants to digitize my old pix before I move. And there are so many, I cannot find the time.... I just have a couple of 'em including the one when I was 9 months old in my father's arms (which you saw on FB.... and also commented.. you gorgeous girl!)
    But I am SOOOOOOO gonna do this....You'll be seeing a lotttta pix of me soon on FB...so please bear with me lol

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    1. Shalaka you will love doing it! If you can find the time, I say go for it!!!

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  5. Deb- I'm glad you are doing this it is nice to look at memories, love the feelings that come up. My mom has boxes of pictures and I try looking through them with her and labeling them for her. Sadly my mom who is nearly 80 can not remember who many of the people in the pictures are. So I have now made it a point to label all mine.

    I too come from a large family, my mom was one of seven children. Her sister died young, but her five brothers all had large broods as well. Sadly I never really knew my father's side of the family. I grew up with about fifty cousins who I could barely keep straight, in addition to my own seven brothers and sisters. Then I married Sam who was not only a twin, but one of ten children. So to say my kids are surrounded is an understatement. Large families can be fun!

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    1. Mary it's so true! Large families can be so much fun. You never feel alone. Always surrounded by love and a shared past.

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    2. I started labeling all my photos when I was probably 15. I knew that I would want to remember everything, and I also knew that it was possible that with age may come difficulties with remembering names and events.
      My grandmother was one of, I believe, nine children, she was one of 2 girls and she was the youngest. Her two oldest brothers passed before she was even born, so there is no real memories left of them, which is sad. No photos, nothing.
      I have a photo of my grandmother (when she was around my age), her mother, and her grandmother. That photo is one of my absolute favorites. It is beautiful.

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    3. Steph what a treasure that photo is! Especially since you don't have others. And I am so impressed that you labelled every one from the age of 15. Smart girl.

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  6. Deb- I'm glad you are doing this it is nice to look at memories, love the feelings that come up. My mom has boxes of pictures and I try looking through them with her and labeling them for her. Sadly my mom who is nearly 80 can not remember who many of the people in the pictures are. So I have now made it a point to label all mine.

    I too come from a large family, my mom was one of seven children. Her sister died young, but her five brothers all had large broods as well. Sadly I never really knew my father's side of the family. I grew up with about fifty cousins who I could barely keep straight, in addition to my own seven brothers and sisters. Then I married Sam who was not only a twin, but one of ten children. So to say my kids are surrounded is an understatement. Large families can be fun!

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    1. Wow Mary, large family indeed! Lovely though isn't it?

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  7. What a fun project, it sounds like you're enjoying yourself with it and you sure were a cute and smiley baby! Isn't it nice that this can be done now. To think how not so long ago sharing old pictures this way wouldn't even have been possible. The advances in photography and social networking have been so amazing and allows us to do so much more. This also reminds me that I keep meaning to scan my oldests baby pictures, we didn't get a digital camera until '02 so the first few years of her life are missing from our families digital albums.

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    1. Erin you are so right. It is wonderful that technology has given us these gifts of the past isn't it?

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  8. I love this! What a neat idea. I love looking at people's old family photos. :D Makes me want to go back home and dig up some myself. Hope the project works out well!

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    1. Kelly it does snowball, that's for sure. Colin was dropping something off at my Mom and Dad's and I said "honey could you pick up more albums please?" I am officially obsessed!.

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  9. This is a fabulous project Deb. As we clean out my Mom's house of 50 years and move her into an apartment we are also finding treasures. However, our mode is much simpler than yours. For years I have taken all my albums and put only the photos into big baskets in my living room where I can randomly look at photos from my whole life. My kids and grand kids come and thumb through the photos all the time asking questions. My mom had done the same thing with all her photos. As we went through her photo treasure drove we asked her who all the people were and if she couldn't remember we tossed the photos and those she did we wrote on the back all the info. It was fun doing this with our Mom as she is now not really with it as much so those photos memories would have been lost.
    The idea of making that final up to date book is a fabulous idea as I can see your parents looking at all the photos and taking that walk down memory lane. It's good to do it while they are all alive to enjoy it and can answer questions to fill in the blanks. I love following along with your family as well.

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    1. Madge I remember your telling me that idea of the basket in the house for photos and I so want to do it! I thought it might be fun this Christmas for example to have a festive basket out with 80 years of Christmas in them. Can you imagine?

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    2. That is a great idea. Love all your photos.

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  10. Absolutely wonderful idea, Deb! Photos really hold our stories. I really like this idea. I like to look through photos of my grandmother when she was young. We recently found one of her when she was going on her first date. It belonged to someone that reached out to us when she passed.
    Baby Deb is adorable!!

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    1. Thanks Steph, and to everyone who commented on cute baby Deb. What I love about baby Deb is that she is happy and so am I! Happy and ready for fun!

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  11. O This is just such a wonderful idea and thing to do. It keeps you busy and enjoying your summer, as well as inspiring others and sharing memories with your family!! I am in to scrapbooking and totally understand the excitment of digging through old photos just to see what you can find! Last month was my parents 20th anniversary so I made them a scrapbook with a section for each of he last 20 years. I loved getting that together. and they absolutly loved it. Photos are a wonderful gift that is guaranteed to start a conversation everyone will love : )

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    1. Kelly I have always loved looking through well made beautiful scrapbooks. What a great hobby. Maybe that's what I will get into next. And I agree, no nicer gift than a photo!

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  12. Love the photos Deb. there very good . The the baby photos.

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    1. Thanks Lyndsie. They sure are fun to look over.

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  13. Oh Deb I LOVE old pictures!!!! You were a very cute baby! :)

    Makes me want to dig out some of mine and take a few trips down memory lane myself. Sometimes I peruse through some of my old pics on Facebook...nice to relive the memories sometimes.

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  14. Go Holly! Dig 'em out!!!!!!!!!!

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  15. I am fan of old pictures too! There is just something about the history that can be seen. My grandad has loads of old pics of which he is going to donate to museum I think. He also liked to take substandard film many years ago.

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  16. Kasku, how lovely that your Grandad wants to donate them to a museum. You should get some copies!

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    1. I will try! Luckily one of my aunts is quite actively trying to get as much as possible into digital form. I actually do have a book that has my grandad's pics. It is about the history of the village where I was born. It is pretty much dead now compared what it used to be.

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