After the Parent's, Are Gone, Who Should Get the Family Photos?

My sister-in-law, my husband's oldest sister, arrived with a small photo album of old pictures.  I had never had the opportunity to see these photos before, this photo album was given to one of my brother-in-laws by my father-in-law a few years before his death. All the siblings asked him to see the photos and for some reason he would never share them, until now.

I was delighted to see photos of my husband when he was a small child and quickly got out my portable scanner.

This is the first time I have seen a photo of his grandmother.

Four of his eight siblings.

These are just a few of the  photos that I scanned. In all but two of these photos, George is the only sibling in the photo.  

Now for my question. . .

Should the original photos be given to the person in the picture, if no other person is in it? 

After having kept these photos from the family for several years, my brother-in-law has given the album to my sister-in-law who scanned all of the photos and put them on a DVD for each sibling. She is now the keeper of the photo album. 

I realize that I have scanned copies of these photos, which I am very happy to have, but the originals have slightly different coloration, texture and the sweet curly cuts on the sides, not to mention the date. These photos are the archaeology of my husband's childhood, of his joy and pleasure, they show the innocence of his youth.

However, in this digital age that we now live in does it really matter if I have the original photograph?

Am I being, overly sensitive because George is no longer with us or do I have a valid point. 

I would really like to know what your opinions are on this subject. 

Should old family photos be given to the person who is in the picture or their decendents or is a scanned copy good enough?

Lakefront Walk

The company has returned to their homes, all the bedding has been washed and placed back on the beds waiting for the next visitor. Love seeing family and friends but it's nice to get back to my normal routine.

I'm getting ready for our family vacation in Door County, Wisconsin, we leave on Saturday for seven fun- filled days, memory making days. This time the size of our group has grown by one with the birth of my sixth grandchild, Dominic Paul. Did I ever mention that Dominic's middle name is in honor of me? Well, that's what they tell me, but my son in laws name is Paul.

Had a relaxing afternoon with my oldest grandson, Declan at our beautiful lakefront enjoying the sights and sounds of Lake Michigan.

Feeding the ducks and the nasty geese.

Have you ever heard of ducks in a row?

Well, these were geese in a row. 

They were waiting to steal the bread being offered to the ducks.

Young ducks.

Sleeping ducks.

Hoping for a piece of bread to land somewhere on the cement

where the competition isn't as aggressive.

Lovely boats docked. 

Beautiful Lake Michigan.

This seagull sure does have a bird's eye view of the lake.

One of our lighthouses.

A selfie of me and my oldest grandchild.

Sculptures are scattered all around our lakefront.

Declan and I thought this looked like a person

wearing a party hat.

An area was fenced off while crews 

were getting everything ready for 

'The Taste of Kenosha' this weekend.

We watched as they setup this huge 

Adirondack chair. 

Yesterday the temperature was 66 with a strong breeze. Kenosha has a slogan 'Cooler near the lake.' It's true I could have used a sweater!

I will be absent for another ten days from blogging enjoying my family in Door County.  See you all soon.

Decluttering Vintage Dolls

Sorry, for my absence from blogging but I was hit by a bug and haven't been feeling well. I hope to get caught up reading my favorite blogs soon.

My blog posts will sporadic for the next few months, my niece and great nephew arrived from Florida for a weeks visit, my sister-in-law will arrive on Sunday and stay with me for a week, and at the end of the month is our family vacation in Door County, Wisconsin.

The great declutter of my basement continues although progress has been slow. I have found many things that I will keep and many, many, many things that I will give away or donate.

When I found this box and opened it up, I let out a little gasp and a loud EWWW! Here's the story, almost four years ago my friend's mother-in-law passed away. Her home was sold and the contents needed to be removed from the house. Before her passing, she asked her family not to have an estate sale but rather give her things away. Mary was in her late 80's and had lived in this house since she was a small child, the home was filled with wonderful items.

While cleaning out the attic, they found dolls that belonged to the oldest daughter. She has a son and was not interested in keeping the dolls, my friend and her husband had a daughter and son but neither were married, so no grandchildren to give the dolls too.

So you may have guessed that I was the recipient of these dolls for my only granddaughter Lulu Belle to play with.

The dolls have never been played with because they were put into the basement and forgotten about until the great declutter.

Let's have a look at these dollies.

These dolls actually are from my parents house and I have saved them all of these years. The blond doll has blue eyes, and the brunette has browneyes. Where are their clothes? Doesn't the brunette doll look a little like Snow White?

The next dolls were given to me by my friend. This pretty lady still had her hairnet on top of her head. Rhinestone earrings and necklace, fur wrap with a black satin gown. Her finger and toenails are painted red. Where did her shoes go?

This blue eyed baby still has her earrings and shoes, but she needs to have her hair styled.

Naked as a jaybird this sweet faced dolly appears to have a medical problem perhaps rosacea or scarlet fever. She does have a sweet face and rosebud mouth. 

This is the most frightening doll I have ever seen! The doll looks like it's furious and the piercing blue eyes are just creepy. All I can say is EWWW.

In the past four years, my friends daughter got married and had a baby. Her granddaughter is now 2 and a half years old so I am going to take these dolls over to her house for her granddaughter. I think theses keepsakes should stay in the family.

I sure hope this doesn't end our friendship !!

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to all of my new followers.