I've long been the photographer in our family. Every family reunion, I'd drag all those family photo albums out and everyone would pore over them, laughing, groaning, swapping stories and reconnecting all over again. I brought them to both Dad's wake and Mom's funeral service. Now, sadly, they sit on a shelf in the basement because our family is still so shattered and at the moment, no longer a family.

BUT, I still maintain photo albums of hubby and me and the grandchildren and our travels, and those come out every so often now.

I learned years ago that if I didn't put the photos in the albums as soon as I got them home from the store, they'd never make it into the albums. So it's one of the things I do while watching my soap opera in the afternoon (yes, I'm a die-hard GH fan and have been for over 20 years! But I always try to do something else while watching it.) So as soon as the photos come home from the store, I sit down with the album and put them in. It's the only way I can handle the chore, by doing it right away and not letting them pile up to the point of being too overwhelming to do.

I have no idea what to do with all these albums. The family ones will eventually go to one of the nieces or grandchildren, the old camping ones might go back to the camp for their archives, the travel ones will probably just end up in the garbage someday, but by then we'll be long gone and it won't matter. But for now, they're really nice to have.