Connecting with the past- Introduction

In amongst the photos that I brought back from WI after Richard passed away was an odd assortment of photos and historical information related to ancestors long since passed.  

At the time- as I was not sure what direction I wanted to go- I simply sorted the stuff into piles-and placed them neatly in three different bins.  

The first bin would contain stuff from our mom, Audrey.  I'd toss in stuff from her childhood along with what few items I had from her mother (Irene Lautenbach) and her father (Clarence Bohren).  Since mom was not the "last one standing", it's a pretty scant collection as I think the bulk of the shared-family stuff ended up with my aunt and later my cousins.  Side bar- Oh thank heavens-it's been enough of a task sorting through what I did come into owning.

The second bin would contain stuff from my childhood.  This one too isn't terribly out of control- as I have been consistent in my efforts to sift through the photos and memories of my own childhood and recording them as stories in this blog.  Goodness knows- I don’t want my heirs to inherit the hodgepodge Laura and I inherited.

The third bin- is the problem child.  For in it, went all things related to Richard's childhood and beyond.   As he was "the last one standing" and in fact moved into his mother's home after he retired & she moved into an Assisted living apartment (aka "the Holmen House), this collection is vast.   

Now "vast" can be a lovely thing 

if one can make sense of the items left behind!

But when photos like this contain nothing that identifies the individual or the event- it soon shifts to frustration

What to do- what to do....that's been the question.   

Do I use these pictures as a starting point to researching the genealogy of my father's family?    

Not gonna lie- I'm not that interested in the details of long past Norwegian immigrants.   And I fear I'd quickly become frustrated with the gaps in the information that I have access to. 

Nor do I think my Things or my nephew will be any more interested than I am- certainly not when their own fathers and grandparents (generations they can relate to) have very interesting stories of immigration that are more relevant to the current times.

What about making a digital scrapbook?   

Nah- my "big picture" goal is to leave less behind instead of just re-formatting things

 Ok- then just pitch them?

I fear the Norse Gods of my father's people would haunt me.  But seriously- I think I'd have so much Lutheran girl guilt if I pitched it without doing a little bit of sifting, scanning and story telling.

So that's what I'm going to do...I shall sift through the mess, scan the pictures and perhaps tell a story or two.   This series will be called Connecting with the Past-   I'm hoping after I do this- I will feel better about letting things go...