Feature That!

Therese Boucher

Princeton, NJ

workshop presenter I offer tips for organizing, identifying, scanning, and preserving family photos. Participants in my workshops capture the stories behind family photos through interviewing, story webbing and computer journaling.

author I do memoir writing, family story editing, genealogies and preservation of old photos. I have also written seven books of my own, including Spiritual Grandparenting, which explores the values that thirty grandparents have handed on to their families.

It starts with a room full of documents and photos. Then railroad workers, girdle factory women, grandmothers chasing husbands out of pool halls, and WWII soldiers come to life. With a little conversation the whole tribe is ready for family readers.

Photo artist I have scanned and restored thousands of photos. People enjoy my "before and after" photos of old family homes. Many have commissioned unique scrapbooks with replicas of period memorabilia. The one hundred photos seen above, were taken during the mid to late 1800s. Watch a video about this antique album.

We are blessed to live in a time when we can preserve and share photos, stories, poems and family memories. Often in the same book! We can create irreplaceable family heirlooms. I enjoy watching people come to life as they combine memories, family stories, genealogies and old photos to build a personal history that reaches out to future generations.

The desire to share both personal stories and visual history, through photos, is important, even if no one seems to care just yet! Storytelling creates common ground for people of all ages. The struggles and triumphs of personal history become family history and we connect with the next generation. This is the real family treasure that is worth sharing!