Our personal media is wonderful for reminding us of days gone by, memories of family and friends. When organizing your photos and family memorabilia it is really helpful to have a timeline written down.

Start with the easy stuff and then fill it in. The photos will themselves will help jog your memory. You will look at a photo and realize it was taken at the house you lived at in California and you know you lived there between 1991 and 1993 or whatever.

Get family members to help you. Each person has certain memories stored differently. So if you can’t quite put a date on it, your brother or sister might be able to help. The process is also wonderful for talking about shared memories.

You can have more vague dates like things that happened during a specific year but you don’t know the exact month or date. Even nailing down a decade is better than nothing. You always want to get as much information as possible but not get bogged down in minutia.

It is a really good brain exercise!  Before you know it you will have a really good biography of your life and the photos that go along with it to share!

My general rule is to start with the marriage of your parents. If you are the family genealogist or the holder of the family photos you may want to start adding in earlier dates as you figure them out. Again, start with the easy stuff and fill in as you go.

Example:

1956-01-21 Dorothy and Vern wedding

1957

1958

1958-09-02 Jim’s brother Dave born

1959

1960

1960-07-30 Lyle and Linda Lubner wedding

1960-10-22 Jim’s brother Tom born

1961

1961-04-10 Dawn’s grandfather John Lubner died

1962

1962-06 Dawn’s mother Arlene graduated high school

1963

1963-06-15 Arlene and Frank wedding

1964

1964-04-03 James birth

1964-06-17 Dawn birth

1965

1966

1966-04-29 Jim’s sister Linda born

1966-07-28 Dawn brother LeRoy born

1969 Dorothy and Vern moved to house in Grafton

1969-09-23 Dawn’s brother David born