Running With Quills: Susan wants to know: What would you save?

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Thursday, July 12, 2007

Susan wants to know: What would you save?

A friend of mine was looking at my Spain photo album a couple of weeks ago and said that she wants me to be her photographer on her next trip. She added that she and her family hardly ever take pictures.

"You're kidding me," I said incredulously. "My photo albums would be the first thing I'd grab in a fire."

Actually they'd probably tie for third. First would be the Soul Mate. (that's my favorite picture of him with the I've-said-something- outrageous smile he gets) The second would be Boo and Mojo. Then I'd haul patootie for my office to scoop up the flash drive containing my book-in- progress and scoop as many of my photo albums from the bookshelves as I could manage. (and believe me, there are a LOT of them)

I'd be sad to lose the locket my dad gave my mom for her eighteenth birthday, which she then gave to me the day I got married, as one day I hope to give it to my son's bride. I'd miss the old silk fan I

have on my mantel. My father brought it back from China during WWII. And I've collected a lot of other vintage odds and ends over the years that have meaning for me. But that's just stuff.

My photo albums are a visual history of my life. They show me, my family, my friends, when we were young. They show my son, my nieces, my nephews, from birth to present, and are the only visuals I have of my father or my husband's parents, who are gone now. They chronicle the pets I've had, the changes my home, my garden has gone through, and remind me of special moments with people near and dear to me. There have been many evenings, particularly in the winter when the nights are long, when I've made a cup of tea and hauled out a random stack of albums to immerse myself in memories.

So my albums tie for first place when it comes to the material things that I would save were my house to catch fire. What would you save?

28 Comments:

karende said...: I did have a fire that destroyed nearly everything we had. Maybe a dozen books were left out of around 12,000, a couple cast iron pans, and a few photographs. Most of the pictures were slides, and over 1,000 of them melted. The insurance company had a problem with all of it, because it was a very small house - one big split level downstairs, a sleeping loft, and a bath/utility that had just been completed. And naturally, that was the day I wore white pants to work, and one cannot live in white pants indefinitely!

The list of things I made for the insurance company was pages long, and the insurance company didn’t believe most of it. Fortunately, I also had all the pictures from the fire department and the testimony of their own arson investigator to back me up. But the worst was the things that couldn’t be replaced. Several manuscripts, letters from my father who’d died 25 years earlier, and my grandfather’s original naturalization papers signed by Kaiser Wilhelm. The one family treasure that did survive was one of my grandmother’s flat irons. It would have taken a very much hotter fire to destroy that - and I still have it.

I’ve decided since then that the best way to keep some things - like manuscripts and photos - is to duplicate them and keep them somewhere else, like a storage shed or just about anything that’s water and weatherproof and away from potential flames.

As for the rest, all the animals were outside. Totally freaked out, but safe and alive, and we even got back the ones the firemen had turned loose, thinking they were too close to the house.

And you wouldn’t believe what a house fire can do to a new Viking sewing machine.

karibear; 11:43 PM
sq said...: It's a toss up between the only photo I have of my maternal grandfather and my NYU diploma. Neither of them are replaceable, as NYU so kindly spelled out in the letter enclosed w/said diploma.

After I save the diploma and picture, maybe I'd save my sisters and parents. No no. Must save the sisters and parents first. Since they can drive, and I REALLY should not be out on the road unsupervised.

My childhood photos NEED to be burned. Every photo pre-10th birthday featured me w/the BOWL cut. I outgrew my mom around age 11 (she's kind of short) and could play keep away w/the scissors.; 11:51 PM
DFender said...: Susan,

After the HHP, the kids and animals... Huh. I dunno, maybe our passports and financial papers.

I hafta say that there's no one material thing in this house that I'd risk my life to save, pictures included. Oh sure, it'd be nice to have my grandparents picture and a few others but nothing that I would cry over as long as my family is out and safe.

Course that's what I say now since it's not ever happened to me. Let's hope I never hafta find out! Sorry 'bout your misfortune, Karibear.

Happy Friday!

Deb; 3:27 AM
PJ said...: Susan, last year the house across the street caught fire and within minutes was totally engulfed in flames. From a 4,000 sq. ft. house the only thing that wasn't destroyed was their wedding album.
My neighbors weren't inside the house but, sadly, their dog was killed. It made all of us in the neighborhood take a real hard look at our own possessions and how we would react.

My important documents and a few irreplaceable photos of my parents, grandparents and husband who are no longer living are now in a fireproof, waterproof safe. I've uploaded all my digital photos to an internet photo site and continue to work on scanning thousands of others so they can be transferred to CDs. Not only do I take a LOT of photos but I'm also the designated family depository.

What I learned from watching my neighbor's house burn is that if mine caught fire I'd grab the dogs, my purse (if it was close) and run for my life. I now take my purse to the bedroom with me at night and keep leashes for the dogs in the bedroom (where we all sleep) and at both ends of the house.; 7:47 AM
Elizabeth Guest said...: Susan, like you, first and foremost, I'd take the Soul Mate. :-)

Then if I had time I'd grab the flash drive with the current WIP.

I'd hate like heck losing family photos, especially those that can't be replaced. (The technological advances for storage mentioned by PJ are excellent, btw. Something for all of us to think about.)

Have a great weekend all!
~EG; 8:56 AM
Lou said...: OFF TOPIC

ELIZABETH LOWELL - I tried to go to your website this morning and a generic page said that your website expired on July 7, 2007!! Surely this can't be??

O.K. - save from a fire... DH and pets, purse if possible. PJ has a fabulous idea - one that I'm going to implement. It will require a bigger fire/water proof safe, but I'm going to do it. Plus flash drive of picture of house and contents so that I can prove to the insurance company I actually have stuff. Great idea!; 10:01 AM
DFender said...: Ahhh... I didn't include the stuff that isn't in my house that I'd NOT hafta save

Insurance information of which I have one copy stored, on DVD and CD, with my insurance agent and the other in a safety deposit box at the bank.

We've uploaded copies of all of our family pictures as well as birth, baptismal, marriage, divorce and death certificate records to a web-based site as well since the HHP's dad is the geneological wizard and keeper of the info for our families.

Saves time and hey, what do I know, I could forget something like that in the panic of a fire!

Amazing what happens to my brain once I wake up.

Deb; 10:13 AM
Lou said...: OFF TOPIC AGAIN - UPDATE

Apparently something somewhere in the Internet blew up, because Jenny Crusie's Cherry Forum is not availabe either. Her web master has been trying to call the provider and keeps getting a busy signal.; 10:16 AM
elizabeth said...: lou--something is indeed fubar out there. I'm supposed to be back up in a few hours.

Susan: living things first, then the work in progress, then the family bible. After that...well, I have a lot of original plein air art. Too much to save. So I'd just cry, swear, and realize all over again the truth of ashes to ashes, dust to dust.; 10:57 AM
Anonymous said...: I'm with you, after the kids, DH and dog, I'd go for the photo albums. My SIL "lost" a sailor's trunk full of my families photos. She took possession after my grandparents and mother passed. So no pics of my family. Also what I have of my grandfathers paintings. I'd probably attempt to save the wedding dress only because it was my mothers and I wore it too. Suepicky; 10:59 AM
karende said...: One thing I forgot to mention - address book! I just happened to have mine with me in a huge purse, and it was a very good thing. Otherwise, it would have taken years to re-create. I did lose a small old one, but it was basically for Christmas cards anyway, so no great loss.

the biggest trauma, other than actually losing all those things, was dealing with the insurance company. They tried really, really hard to prove it was arson caused by either my son or my SO, who I later married. Either one and they wouldn't have had to pay off. But they got even, anyway, fof years afterward, I either couldn't get insurance or went into a state-required 'high-risk pool' that made the premiums go through the roof. The insurance company we did have the policy with refused to ever cover me again, in spite of the finding that I was not at fault in any way. And it took years and 2 lawsuits to do it.

karibear; 11:06 AM
susan andersen said...: Karibear, I can't even imagine. I think that's probably everyone's worst nightmare. I'm so sorry to hear it happened to you.

SQ *GGGGGG* Sisters and parents who drive are a Good Thing, apparently. And what kind of cheapskates won't replace your diploma? I do hear you, though, re: some of the childhood pics. My father used to carry around a photo of me in his wallet that was taken when I was in the Brownies. I had a unibrow and a smile that was painfully self-conscious yet THAT was the one he chose to show the world?; 6:12 PM
susan andersen said...: Deb, PJ, Elizabeth G, I'd never actually risk life and limb for my albums. But if I had time to only save a couple of things, they're what I'd go for--along with my WIP.

I never thought of the uploadable sites for digital pics in that light, but that's a very good suggestion for at least safeguarding current pictures. I might have to look into one of those.; 6:17 PM
susan andersen said...: Deb, those are great ideas re: the DVD of your house. I may have to borrow my nephew's camcorder and record one for our safety deposit box.

Elizabeth L, what is plein air art? I'm not familiar with that.

Suepicky, how cool that you were able to wear your mother's wedding dress. My niece on my husband's side got to wear her grandmother's gown and there was just something extra special about it.; 6:25 PM
PJ said...: Susan, I use the Kodak site and I like it but there are many good, reputable sites out there.

I agree with you. If I had the time without endangering anyone I'd go for the photos. Of course, the majority of my photos are in three 32-gallon Rubbermaid containers. Gonna have to look into getting some containers with wheels. Did I mention that I've always taken a LOT of photos? (grin); 6:31 PM
PJ said...: (((Karibear))) I'm so sorry you had to go through all that.; 6:32 PM
karende said...: Thanks for the sympathies all, but it was a long time ago - and like I said, nothing live was hurt. As for the rest, it was what is referred to as a ‘learning experience.’ For instance, when an agent tells you you have 100K of coverage on the contents, don’t believe it. If you ever need it, you’ll have to prove you actually had each and every item, then after you’ve given them your list, they’ll say “But we only cover a percentage of the values, because once you’ve bought them, they aren’t new anymore, they’re used, and no one does full replacement value. As for the books, yeah, there were a lot of them, but you can replace most of them from a used book store or a garage sale. The leather jackets were worn, the boots and shoes were worn, yadayada.” A lot of what I had was fairly unique - hand-made crafts and musical instruments, etc., but not pricey in and of itself. For instance, it’s impossible to place a monetary value on a dulcimer that was made specifically for you by someone who did it as a hobby, then died at sea. It’s the memory of the friend that’s irreplaceable, not the fair market value of the item itself. I gave up on even thinking about replacing anything that wasn’t necessary to every-day living. I’d have spent the next 20 years trying to duplicate what I’d lost, and wasting all that time looking back instead of forward.

But just for the record, every so often I come across a duplicate of something I lost on ebay, and the cost of a used whatever is substantially higher now than I paid for the same thing when it was new. Or someone in a news group years later would mention a title I’d had and say ‘so and so sold their copy for 350.00,’ and I’d say ‘gee, I used to have that and it was in perfect condition, too.’ Then the first person would say ‘you wanna sell it? I’ll give you 400.00 for it,’ and then I’d tell them where the ashes of it was.

EL, if I had some really nice art [ie, stuff I’d spent real $$ on], I’d have a vault in my basement and rotate things so I could enjoy them a few at a time. I had a friend who did that mostly with pottery, and she said it was like having a new gallery show every month.

karibear; 7:51 PM
DFender said...: Susan,

To get an introduction to EL's plein air art I'd suggest reading EL's Die In Plain Sight... that was my introduction and after that I researched via the 'net and found the results were very cool. If you don't mind these suggestions you could also take a look at www.p-a-p-a.com, Plein Air Painters of America. Beautiful.

Here's the best definition that I found, back when I was looking.

En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting in the outside environment rather than indoors (such as in a studio).

Hope that helped, Susan and I hope I didn't step on your toes, EL. *wince*

G'night :-)

Deb; 10:40 PM
Ranurgis said...: My photo albums are definitely at the top of the list. Another item would be the story book that my mother wrote and illustrated for me just after the end of WWII when there were few things to buy. Luckily that would not be a complete loss even if I could not rescue it because for the family reunion for my mother's 80th birthday, each family received a copy of the book in German and an English translation contributed by moi.

Next would be some other childhood items including two Steiff animals. I'd love to rescue my books but where to start? Oh, yes and at least a few of the paintings by my great-uncle.; 10:43 PM
susan andersen said...: Thanks, Deb! I'll check that site out.; 12:03 AM
Anonymous said...: It was special to me to wear my mom's dress. Both parents were deceased when I married. It fit me perfectly. Gave me a sense of my parents being there and was a surprise for moms maid-of-honor who gave me a kiss from mom. Suepicky; 3:40 AM
Stella said...: Susan--a lovely blog. thank you. the one-handed typist here--forgive the mess.
i envy you the albums. My photos are in a zillion boxes. i was always "going to" do it.

jerry and my fur babies are all i really care about. this is nuts, but i can't think of anything i couldn't recreate in my mind, but if i had albums i'd have them where i could grab them.

blessings, stella; 6:09 AM
Candace Salima . . . the LDS Nora Roberts said...: I've often thought of this myself, Susan. As I've watched different natural disasters hit across the world, I've looked around my home and thought, what would I save. I'll have to consider this topic for my own blog. Thank you for blogging about this today!; 7:49 AM
elizabeth said...: Susan--plein air refers to landscapes that are painted at the scene, in plain air as it were. I love them because they have so much energy. The artist has to race to capture the light. Many artists take their plein air "studies" and use them in the studio, where a larger, more finished painting is produced. Photos are also used, at least since Kodachrome hit the scene. ;-); 11:26 AM
Pia said...: When I was a young girl (to me that seemed just like a few years ago but my oh my it has been about 25 years ago already), my mom and I lived in a lot of places and one of them was in the Philippines - the culture was very different as everybody had maids and we too had one. We lived in a high rise condominium there and one early morning at about 2 am, the fire alarm went off since we were at the second floor my mom and I reached the lobby in no time..My mom was very worried since everyone was told to wait on the street across from our condo to find our maid missing. So my mom asked the guards if they saw our maid and one of them said that she went back to our unit. My mom was so nervous she kept on asking, why would she go back when there was a fire at the 11th Floor.
About 3 or 4 hours after when the fire was out and we were told that we could go back, we saw our maid, Anita at the lobby catching her breath and there we saw our TV, radio, a blanket filled with clothes, food, clocks, chairs and a lot of our stuff at the lobby. Anita explained that if the fire spread she wanted to save as much as she can, she also said that the bed was too heavy to push so it was stuck between our bedroom and the door. Anita single handedly carried all our stuff (but did not bother to save any of hers), she was 4 feet 11 and really thin and it took 5 people and 4 trips to bring back all our stuff. After my mom explained that nothing mattered but our safety I think she gave Anita a big raise.

But now, if something happens, I would save my laptop and my laptop bag that contains a copy of my back up files. If I could save more, then it would be my camera. We have a fire proof safe good for 3 hours that has all our important documents.
I think my husband would save his Easton Press leather bound with gold trimming books, he has been collecting them for 10 years now.
Thanks.
Pia; 4:51 PM
susan andersen said...: Pia, what a wonderful story about Anita!! Thanks for sharing.; 5:20 PM
Gina, Book Dragon said...: My daughter came home from school one day and said that this is what they had talked about in class. She mentioned the computer but realized that her brother would get it first. I told her to grab her school yearbooks and make sure she was wearing shoes as she ran out the door with her purse/backpack.

I have many books (HA) too many to save. I've got some great ones signed but even those are too many to save. ~sigh~

Not in order:
hard drive
yearbooks
journals
photo albums/boxes of photos
important papers (they're in a fire box but just in case)
pets
rest of family

I too have some one of a kind things but what to grab first? I just don't know.

As for keeping photos safe: I think I'll finishing scanning my scrapbook pages and have DH make a powerpoint out of them. Find all the negatives and make a copy of the digital ones. Then take the whole package someplace else, just in case.

This would work for passports, legal docs & manuscripts.

Even after having a cousin's house catch fire and having everything that didn't burn be ruined by smoke or water, I still don't know!; 3:35 AM
Lori Foster said...: I'm chiming in late after a busy weekend, but assuming humans and pets are safe, definitely my photos would be the first to grab! Like Susan, my book stuff would be right after that.
I can't imagine not having my photos. Luckily, most of my recent (in last 5 years) photos are stored online. Safe!

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone.

Lori; 6:35 AM

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Thursday, July 12, 2007

Susan wants to know: What would you save?

28 Comments: