Organizing - Part 2

We just arrived in Mexico for the girls' March Break, so sadly (or perhaps gladly) I won't have access to all the letters and photos.  The documents cover our dining room table and I still have 3 large bags half full of additional letters and photos.

I did however manage to scan quite a few photos and documents over the past week (you can see these in the Picasa and Google Docs links already provided) and have enough to do a story on Dad's grandfather.

I have enlisted Shirley and the girls to help sort through and organize the letters and photos into boxes focused around individuals.  The 3 biggest collections are around Marion, Ann and Dad.  Marion was the original family genealogy collector.  She carefully curated all the letters from her Franks (and Bridges) forebears and passed on the bug to Ann.  I feel that by chance, I have picked up the baton and continue the tradition through the Franks line.

It is such a pleasure randomly leafing through these things and piecing together names, faces and glimpses of lives.  But I can't help feeling sad going through the letters, photos and memories of Dad, knowing that he is not able to shed light or add his perspective on stories.  There is also the intrinsic sadness of Dad's broken relationship with Ann and Margaret's death, but also lots of happier things there as well.