I hope that you are the master of backing up your digital images. I hope that as technology has changed, that you've upgraded your photo storage from floppy discs, to CDs, to flash drives. I have a complicated back up system since, well, photos are what I do. Just last night in preparing to purge an old computer I discovered an entire year's worth of personal photos that were not properly backed up. I can see thumbnails of the images, but because the program cannot link to the original file- because the original file is gone, I can't do more than to take a screen shot. 

My professional photos are secure, but I wasn't as vigilant with my personal photos. And I could kick myself. The truth is: digital files are overwhelming. There are thousands of them. Why? Who needs that many? Nobody does. Really. And yet, in seeing the tiny faces of my now adult sized children, I want them all.

I'm thankful that along the way I've printed super faves. At least I will have those. The reality is, we live in a physical world. As much as digital files are convenient for sharing on social media platforms, they aren't truly tangible. And because they are digital, they can be more delicate and fragile than their paper counterparts. Take care to back up your digital files at least twice. And for the love of everyone around you, print your pictures. 

As we go through loves and losses, the image of a loved one increases in value. To have prints you can touch, show off, and share is truly priceless.

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