Problem
I inherited boxes, deed boxes, of old papers and certificates after the deaths of my parents and uncle. Some of the documents were clear. I was awarded a pass in a speech test as a child. I had totally forgotten it. Bu there was my name and the name of the organization and date.
Holiday Photos
Later I looked at notes I was making. I had a photo with the name of an Italian restaurant, IO, in Singapore. I had other photos of an Italian restaurant in London, Osteria Modigliani. If I simply labelled the photo 'us in Italian restaurant', that would be meaningless years later. Since it was a restaurant I went to the previous week in Singapore, I knew where it was. However, if I had looked at it back in the UK twenty years later, I would have forgotten.
Awards And Ribbons
Similarly, I found myself writing on the back of a ribbon for Best Speaker, from Toastmasters International, the date and place. What was missing? My name!
I know my name. I know I won the ribbon. But if I dropped it in another meeting, nobody would know which of the twenty people in the room the ribbon belonged to.
My husband also won a ribbon. Which was his ribbon and which was mine? When we both die, our son will inherit all our possessions. He won't know which ribbons were won by which of us. If a stranger were to be your executor, and they find a certificate with no name on it, there's no record of who won it and what date.
Diary of a Nobody
Why would anybody care? Maybe you are not a VIP. Let's look at a few scenarios.
AA Certificate
I have an AA award to my father from the 1900s. Maybe not very important to anybody but him when he was alive. Not important to anybody but me now. But in a few decades time that could be important to my grandchildren or even to the AA.
Roman Records, Victorian Victories, Recent Way Of Life
A Roman inscription is fascinating to children and teachers nowadays. The everyday life 100 years ago is fascinating to schoolchildren.
Cemeteries worldwide show that after people have died their relatives, and even strangers, think that a recording of somebody's life should be made and kept.
Language Preserved In Captions
Even the way you record names and places and people and events can be important.
Lockerbie Plane Crash
Do you recall the Lockerbie plane disaster? A plane came down over Scotland caused by a bomb. All the possessions of the people were stored for decades afterwards. They were used to identify who was on board. They were treasured by the relatives and descendants. The curators of the possessions meticulously recorded every item.
We went to Scotland and on the drive back to London, England, from Edinburgh (where we attended the jolly Edinburgh Festival with its street comedy acts) we passed the sign to Lockerbie.
If you go to Scotland you can visit the cemetery. At the far back, right, at the top of the slope, is the semi-circular memorial with the lives of each of the passengers and crew victims around the front and on the wall at the back. The lives of each person are meticulously recorded.
Labelling Award, Documents & Photos
If an entire family dies in an accident, there's nobody left to ask. But the papers, photos, certificates, awards and other items with dates and names tell their story.
So please label every photo and certificate with the name, date, place. Your moment of happiness and success will be recorded for the information and pleasure of your descendants and even complete strangers.
Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I inherited boxes, deed boxes, of old papers and certificates after the deaths of my parents and uncle. Some of the documents were clear. I was awarded a pass in a speech test as a child. I had totally forgotten it. Bu there was my name and the name of the organization and date.
Holiday Photos
Later I looked at notes I was making. I had a photo with the name of an Italian restaurant, IO, in Singapore. I had other photos of an Italian restaurant in London, Osteria Modigliani. If I simply labelled the photo 'us in Italian restaurant', that would be meaningless years later. Since it was a restaurant I went to the previous week in Singapore, I knew where it was. However, if I had looked at it back in the UK twenty years later, I would have forgotten.
Awards And Ribbons
Similarly, I found myself writing on the back of a ribbon for Best Speaker, from Toastmasters International, the date and place. What was missing? My name!
I know my name. I know I won the ribbon. But if I dropped it in another meeting, nobody would know which of the twenty people in the room the ribbon belonged to.
My husband also won a ribbon. Which was his ribbon and which was mine? When we both die, our son will inherit all our possessions. He won't know which ribbons were won by which of us. If a stranger were to be your executor, and they find a certificate with no name on it, there's no record of who won it and what date.
Diary of a Nobody
Why would anybody care? Maybe you are not a VIP. Let's look at a few scenarios.
AA Certificate
I have an AA award to my father from the 1900s. Maybe not very important to anybody but him when he was alive. Not important to anybody but me now. But in a few decades time that could be important to my grandchildren or even to the AA.
Roman Records, Victorian Victories, Recent Way Of Life
A Roman inscription is fascinating to children and teachers nowadays. The everyday life 100 years ago is fascinating to schoolchildren.
Cemeteries worldwide show that after people have died their relatives, and even strangers, think that a recording of somebody's life should be made and kept.
Language Preserved In Captions
Even the way you record names and places and people and events can be important.
Lockerbie Plane Crash
Do you recall the Lockerbie plane disaster? A plane came down over Scotland caused by a bomb. All the possessions of the people were stored for decades afterwards. They were used to identify who was on board. They were treasured by the relatives and descendants. The curators of the possessions meticulously recorded every item.
We went to Scotland and on the drive back to London, England, from Edinburgh (where we attended the jolly Edinburgh Festival with its street comedy acts) we passed the sign to Lockerbie.
If you go to Scotland you can visit the cemetery. At the far back, right, at the top of the slope, is the semi-circular memorial with the lives of each of the passengers and crew victims around the front and on the wall at the back. The lives of each person are meticulously recorded.
Labelling Award, Documents & Photos
If an entire family dies in an accident, there's nobody left to ask. But the papers, photos, certificates, awards and other items with dates and names tell their story.
So please label every photo and certificate with the name, date, place. Your moment of happiness and success will be recorded for the information and pleasure of your descendants and even complete strangers.
Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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