A survey was done recently on what people would take from their burning home if they only had a few minutes to evacuate. Once the family members and pets were safe, the highest priority possession was the collection of family photos and pictures. The reason given was that photos were irreplaceable, priceless. Everything else could be replaced.
I can identify with this response because recently, in San Diego where I live, we had some terrible wildfires, the worst in California history. It made international news. Hundreds of homes were lost within a few miles of my house. Our friends live just a mile away and were directly in the fire’s path. Firemen rousted them out of bed at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning and told them they had to leave immediately for their own safety. They did not have time to take anything. After the neighborhood was cleared the firemen went into each house and collected all the photos on the walls they could find and put them out of harm’s way for the residents to claim later in case the worse case scenario played out. Fortunately the fire changed direction and heroic firefighting efforts prevented any losses in the neighborhood. The special efforts of the firemen to protect these precious photos made the news. It was such a heart-warming thing for them to have done given all their other responsibilities at the time. The neighbors were extremely grateful for this act of kindness, and of course thankful to have their homes intact.
I myself had less than an hour to collect everything, load the car, and evacuate to safety. What did I take? A few important papers, my photo albums, and several photos on canvas that I had displayed on my walls. The photos on canvas were particularly precious to me because they were the last images that remained from long-lost photographic prints of my children and their grandparents. My neighbors were also grabbing their photos, including photo enlargements as they rushed to leave amidst the smoke-filled air.
My friend Dan lost everything in the fires and did not have enough time to save a single photo – a whole generation of images lost forever. He told me it was the photos he regretted losing most along with the trophies his son had won in sports as a youngster. All that remained were ashes and little piles of melted brass. Like Dan, people interviewed on TV who had lost everything most commonly lamented the loss of their family photos.
The reason I share these stories is to underscore how important photographs are to all of us - baby pictures, wedding photos, vintage pictures of relatives, favorite trips – these occupy a special place in our hearts. Once they are gone we still have the memories of course, but how do you share these special memories? Photographs provide the continuity in our lives, allowing us to reminisce and share our common experiences with others. Photographs, especially ones on display in our homes, are so much more than just documentation of a person or event – they are like “time-machines” that can instantly transport us back to that very moment every time we walk by and glance at them hanging on the wall – that playful expression your now grown-up daughter had when she was playing with the pet dog as a child. Or how beautiful your wife looked as a young bride.
So when you think about a photographic enlargement, or photo canvas print, remember - it just may be the one item you have time to take with you in an emergency. Perhaps this is why gifts of photo enlargements and personalized scrapbooks are so special, and appreciated so much by the recipient. They understand how precious they are and how much emotion and love is packed into each one.
