Do as I say, not as I do

I have been an archivally-safe scrapbooker for ten years. Not only do I appreciate the importance of treating my photographic memories with respect, within my circle of family and firends, I am definitely the "go to" person for advice on preserving your photos. Have an old magnetic album? Not only will I explain why this is a bad idea, I'll take it apart for you. I can tell you the best way to handle your photos, why pictures printed on old black and white paper have different requirements from later papers, and most importantly, why you need to take the correct steps now to ensure these memories are still around for future generations. I can talk your bloody ear off on the subject for hours and never repeat myself.

Which leads me to last night. I went down to the basement to put something in the freezer, and caught sight of the container above. After my mother died, I was given all the photos she had collected over the years. Some were in magnetic albums, some were in slip albums, and the vast majority were loose in boxes. They were completely mixed up, almost none of them were dated in any way, an absolute disaster. My brother trusted me with every single one of them, because he knows I am an expert in this field.

I had gotten somewhat of a handle on the collection, had everything out of the albums and pretty much in order. One night were were having company over, so I pitched all the photos in to Tupperware containers and "hid" them downstairs.

And then promptly forgot about them. They sat, uncovered and unprotected, in my basement for over a year.

It is with deep, deep shame and horror that I tell you every single one of these photos was perfectly flat the last time I saw them. Jennifer, the Big Expert, has ruined most of our family photos through negligence.

This afternoon, Mario and I made an emergency trip to Staples to buy a scanner. I had always planned to scan the whole collection eventually, I just never thought I'd be scanning in a desperate attempt to repair damage I have done.