As a professional Photo Organizer, I frequently organize and create custom photo books for my clients – it’s become second nature. But every now & then, there’s a project that reminds me just how important photos, ephemera, and photo books are to visual storytelling and memory keeping.

Sarah, a client that I have done several projects for over the years, asked me to create a “Celebration of Life” book for her brother-in-law John, who had recently passed-away. The issue on the table: Sarah’s family wasn’t close. Because of the complicated family circumstances, she was hesitant to even do a photo book, fearing some of the family would disapprove. Some projects, though, are worth trying.

As it turns out, they did not disapprove – they accepted and loved the book.

Says Sarah, “It really taught me a lesson, because the family members commented that we had really captured John’s passion and personality with the description on the introduction page. Everyone also mentioned how happy he looked in the photos, something that I had not noticed. They all also mentioned how much they loved the beachy look that was applied to the book and how perfectly it reflected his love of fishing and living near the water.”

For this family, this photo book turned out to be a very touching gift for Sarah to present to John’s children and grandchildren and made her feel more connected to his family than she had in years. And in a year of hardships, it’s such an important win.

This should remind us all how important and meaningful our photos and stories are…especially when they are all you have remaining of a cherished loved one. So get your memories in a place you trust – put them in FOREVER.

FOREVER pairs perfectly with your print projects by first creating a safe space with FOREVER Storage. Make sure you use both for the complete memory keeping platform!