We often focus on digitizing photos and videos, but what about other memory-holding items? For instance, I make my grandmother's peanut brittle recipe every Christmas—it wouldn't feel like the holiday without it. Many cherished items, like handwritten recipes, heartfelt letters, scrapbooks, and official documents, tell the story of our identities and heritage. Digitizing these items helps preserve them from damage and ensures they remain part of our family legacy for years to come.

Why Digitize?

• Protection: Physical items can fade, tear, or be destroyed by water, fire, or time. Digitizing ensures these memories aren’t lost.

• Sharing: Digitized files can be shared with family, allowing everyone to enjoy these treasures. Unlike physical items, which can be held by only one person, digitization can allow access for all. For example, once Grandpa's letters from the South Pacific are digitized, the entire family can appreciate them.

• Preservation: Physical items may deteriorate, but digital copies endure and remain accessible if file formats are regularly updated and stored securely.

What Items Should You Digitize?

• Recipes: Handwritten recipes are invaluable to our family history, preserving cherished memories of meals made by Mom or Grandma and carrying traditions through generations.

• Letters: Personal correspondence, postcards, and notes that tell stories of love, hardship, and history. Journals or letters that recount life events can reveal the writer’s thoughts and feelings during a specific period.

• Documents: Important records like birth, marriage, and death certificates; military records; and diplomas are essential for family history.

• Unique Items: Sketches, ticket stubs, scrapbooks, or other mementos with emotional or historical significance add depth and personality to your family’s story. These types of items tell stories no one else can replicate!

• Fragile Items: Handle delicate items carefully, and consider using a professional service like FOREVER for digitization to avoid damage.

Steps to Digitize

• Step 1: Gather Your Items Collect all the heirlooms you’d like to digitize, organizing them into categories for easy workflow. Handle items carefully and use cotton gloves to avoid transferring oils from your fingers.

• Step 2: Choose Your Method Use a flat item scanner or hire a professional digitization service like FOREVER to digitize your items.

• Step 3: Save in Universally Used Formats

  • PDFs are great for text-based items like letters and recipes.

  • JPEGs or TIFFs are ideal for preserving high-quality images of visual items.

• Step 4: Store and Organize

  • Use a safe, permanent digital storage option like a FOREVER storage account.

  • Create albums and use tags to make your files easy to locate.

  • Enhance the description by sharing the item's story, including details like the recipe's origin or the letter's date for future context.

Creative Ways to Share Digitized Items

• Compile family recipes into a professionally printed cookbook to share with family members. Surprise everyone next Christmas with a printed recipe book of Grandma's best dishes.

• Design and print a digital photo book featuring old letters, certificates, and memorabilia.

• Incorporate digitized documents into a genealogy project to create a comprehensive family history.

Next Steps

Begin preserving your family's legacy today! During this week's holiday celebrations, ask your family for items they'd like to have preserved, such as cherished recipes. Don't let another year pass without safeguarding these treasures! Use the gatherings to uncover and protect priceless family memories.

Create a plan to digitize your valued items. If you need assistance, I’m here to help! FOREVER provides professional digitization and permanent storage solutions to protect your family’s story for future generations. What’s the one item you’d be heartbroken to lose? Begin with that!