Dad's Slides

 This has been a journey, ya'll.

To recap: 

I hadn't seen Dad's slides in years.  (Like 40).   Dad passed away 20 years ago.  

I also hadn't heard from my step-mother since Dad passed away in spite of numerous attempts to contact her.

During the pandemic, I received a phone call from my step mother to come and get his "stuff".  As soon as the travel restrictions were lifted, I drove up and picked them up.  Among the many things in the stash that she gave me was a treasure trove of slides.

I converted the slides to digital at the public library.

And then, finally!  I went to a scrapbooking retreat this past weekend in Delaware.  It took 4 days, but the pictures are finally ensconce in an album.  Everything is labeled, events are journaled, and I added funny family anecdotes as I went along.  It's a work of art. I am so happy to have this invaluable memory of my growing up years!

The mess at my table.  I am not a "clean" crafter.  I make a huge mess.  That's why I pay for a table at a retreat.  I have a dedicated table for several days and I can make as much of a mess as I want.

Look at the quality of these pictures!  These are from Ft. Sumter.  We traveled there on vacation in 1975. I will say - Dad was pretty consistent about the quality of the film he used.  He was a Kodak man.  Most of the photos were on Kodak film, and they are well preserved.  Across the board, I did not find myself adjusting the colors.  I thought the colors had held up well over time.  There were several sets of slides on other rolls of film.  Some of them had deteriorated so much, they were just blank slides.  There were a handful I was able to save with extensive digital editing.

I got home yesterday and didn't really know what to do with myself.  This has been an all-consuming project for the last 6 years. I'm glad it's finished.  But I feel slightly adrift now...