When my mother passed away she left behind quite a few personal items: photo albums, letters, newspaper clippings; a stash of things I had never seen before. I was overwhelmed and decided to put it all in a trunk and every so often open the trunk, take something out and decide what to do with it: Keep it, toss it or. . .?
I found two photo albums, one from the 1930s, the other the 1940s. She was born in 1920 so the first album would have been when she was a teenager. She was good at writing dates and places on the edge of the pics. One set of pics was taken at York’s Beach, Maine where the family vacationed. There was my mom in her 30s bathing suit, sitting on some rocks with her sisters, smiling looking like they were having a grand time.
I am the youngest member of my family, in my 60s, have no kids, and neither my brother or sister have any kids. It turns out I’m the only one who’s really interested in these photos and personal mementos and when Gabriel blows his horn to call me home, all the contents of the trunk will be placed in the trash bin. I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen and began doing research.
First, I thought there must be a historical society in York’s Beach and it turns out there is! I contacted them, told them about the pictures and offered to donate. They were delighted. I figured they would conserve them, put them on display and (hopefully) bring delight to the viewer. In this way my mother and her sisters will live on much, much longer than if the albums had stayed in the trunk.
The albums and personal mementos really do tell the story of my mother. As I slowly find a “home” for these mementos I feel I’m keeping her story alive.
(Find the image of York Beach at the top of the post here, along with more then and now images)
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