Sunday, January 16, 2011

A book called "Home"

I wrote a comment in Vivian Swift's blog about taking pictures of clothes before sending them off to good will. Another commenter said:
Helen’s right about taking pictures of things you’d like to remember. I heard a story on NPR several months ago about a granddaughter who was distraught over the fact that her grandmother was having to move to assisted living, and she was sad that the place so full of childhood memories would be gone. A friend suggested she get a photographer to take pictures of all the rooms in the house, the special things that meant so much, etc.
My parents are now in the their late 80s and won’t be able to stay at home too much longer, so for Christmas I gave them a book simply called Home. I photographed every room in their house, things on book shelves, pieces of furniture, pictures on the wall, even Mom’s house shoes in the closet. The book is 44 pages of ordinary things that reflect a lifetime of 6 kids, a dozen grandkids, etc. Now when they move, they have a reference to the where they’ve lived for 40-plus years — without having all the stuff they no longer need or use.


What a great idea. If you ask anyone in a care facility of any kind, the thing they miss most is home. 

3 comments:

  1. I was really touched by your comment on Vivian's blog and thought it was a great idea and then the next comment took it a step farther. Both wonderful ideas. It kind of goes along with your idea of photographing the contents of the boxes when packing to move or for storage. You're a genius!

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  2. Ask my mom about my cleaning philosophy! I tell her to take a picture and then throw it out. The idea of taking pictures of a home is a very cool idea.

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  3. Anonymous5:05 PM

    this was such a great idea but it made me so sad to think of the couple squeezed into their little assisted living apartment and going over their book of possessions.
    nancy

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