Every few years during my childhood, my family and I would purge as much as possible from our overstuffed garage. But we could never bring ourselves to touch the big blue bin overflowing with stacks of photographs, its contents spanning several lifetimes’ worth of birthdays, vacations, and friendships.
Lately, whenever my mom brings up organizing the big blue bin, I suggest something drastic: Pick the five favorite photos from each year and trash the rest. After sorting through the houses of a few grandparents after their deaths, I’ve come to realize that print photographs can be a precious, tangible connection to previous generations. They also open a door to conversations about family with living relatives. But it’s easy for the important photos to get lost when people save too many.
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