Digital Memories
Yesterday morning, at around 6:30 AM, my Grandma's house in Connecticut burned. The fire marshal is calling it a complete loss.
While this is tragic, we can be thankful that my Grandma was spending the week in Maine with my mom and dad.
When I called home and my sister put Grandma on the phone, I immediately started crying saying, "Grandma! I'm so glad you're OK! And I am SO SAD about the house!"
My Grandma responded, "Bridge! I've been wanting to tell you congratulations on covering Elton John!"
Sheesh. Apparently I was overreacting?
The loss is not just the physical structure of a house, but the memories it held. And the key reminders of those memories; old school projects, handmade crafts, scrapbooks, letters, certificates, and photographs.
In sorting my emotions over the past 24 hours, I have come to the realization that my generation is so incredibly lucky that with the help of technology, images and writing of our own memories, will be much harder to lose. After all, if my house burns down when I am a grandma, my grandkids can just download all the albums off my facebook page! Hey, I really wouldn't put it past my generation to embrace senior citizen social networking!
And not only are our photos digital, but our videos are, too! And our letters, with many people opting for email. Even journals and diaries are for the most part digital these days, thanks to this very blogosphere.
So, consider this your friendly public service reminder to back it up! If not for you, then for your grandchildren!
If you are at all curious, you can check out Connecticut's local news coverage of the fire here.
