As is often the case, a special sale pulled me into action.
Those who know me or have followed me for a while know that a few years ago, I discovered a surprise at the company I was using for creating my digital photobooks, FOREVER. I had loved their software programs for many, many years. The surprise? I had never heard about, or checked their website, or paid attention – whatever – to their “permanent storage”.
What was that, anyway? What’s permanent and what is being stored? And who cares?
Thankfully, I was introduced to their Permanent Cloud Storage which preserved, protected, and made available for my lifetime plus 100 years digitized photos, videos, audios, documents and so much more. Blew me away, 100 years, but got me thinking about all my inherited ancestry photos and genealogy research.
Plus the super 8 film of my kids from birth through their young childhood years that I had driven across town to pay a guy lots of money to put onto VHS tapes. Oops, they no longer were viewable because we didn’t have VHS players. So I had paid another guy – yes, driving another distance up north again — a lot of money to transfer the VHS to DVD’s!! I did wonder how long it would be until the mode would change again.
And that cassette tape recording I did of my grandfather in 1978 at the farm in West Texas? Oh dear. He was 84 at the time and my boys were pre-school age. Thank heavens, I got a burr up my saddle to record some of his stories we had heard.
He was born in a one-room, half-dugout, half-soddy home on the edge of Red River across from the Texas side on the “Indian Territory” side. If I said “Oklahoma”, he would correct me saying it was “Indian Territory”. They homesteaded there and had some intriguing stories. He described sleeping on pallets on the “lumber” floor while his parents had a bed (he was the 4th boy born there) and there was a hole in the floor cut and dug out to allow the butter churn to be seated in the cool ground.
Of course, in the middle of the taping, my boys come running up to ask who is putting them to bed and other questions. Turns out it is the only recording of my sons’ voices I have. They are now in their late 40’s.
As with the super 8 film, it dawned on me how fragile those cassette tapes were. Much less the ability to play them on the recorder I still had. Yes, that cassette tape made the same trip to the two guys who did the transfers – to DVD’s.
Back to the “surprise” I had in learning about FOREVER Permanent Storage – I immediately ordered their “box” and got my VHS tapes, DVD’s and precious photos “digitized”. They are now in my Permanent Cloud Storage where I can pull them up and view them anytime.
OK, I will confess. As I was preparing this blog, I just had to go back and listen to my grandfather’s tape, hear his distinct way of talking that just brought him back to me in person again, hear my kids’ precious little voices and then I had another surprise. I realized how “West Texas” twang was my speech on the tape. Boy, had I forgotten that!
I mentioned the special sale that kicked me into action. FOREVER is this month scanning the 12×12 size album pages for $1 per side – that is less than half price. So I went to the basement (where those old traditional albums reside – you know, the heavy, big-on-the-shelf ones that none of my kids want?). One of those I had forgotten (yes, we do forget even special things) was an album my husband made for me as an Anniversary present some 6-7 years ago. And it began with our courtship.
True – he was not a practiced album maker, but it has stories, documents, photos I don’t remember ever seeing. It takes me back to times and events and seeing the kids and grandkids grow like nothing else. Yep, it is going in the box to get digitized – at that special sale price.
What is the realization that is washing over me? These precious treasures are going to be preserved – for me but also for future family. How I would have loved to have these type of treasures from my parents / grandparents / great-grandparents!!
Once they are safe in the Permanent Cloud storage, which is backed up and guaranteed for the lifetime plus 100 years, I won’t have to worry about water destroying them (basements do get flooded, you know), or fire destroying them (we have had plenty in Colorado these last few years) or them getting lost in the transfer of estate items with “too much stuff to sort” as I have heard about from so many others.
As someone so aptly said when I described the Permanent Cloud storage, “it’s better than a Fireproof safe”! And can you imagine how big that safe would have to be?
Plus, it is not easy to access! …or share with others!
Right now, I can click on my ancestor photos, the audio of my grandfather and little kids, as well as my West Texas twang by just going on my phone or computer. And I can share it with anyone in my family or friends if I like.
Where are your treasured items? Not in a fireproof safe, I wager. Please reply and let me know how I can help you enjoy and preserve them. I am heading down to the basement to look for more albums, but I WILL get back to you as quickly as I can.P.S. Even better, click HERE to get a free “practice account” to test it out and view all that FOREVER has to offer.
