I still remember visiting my grandparents when I was a kid. 

Once we wore ourselves out playing on their farm, we'd come in to cool off and I'd immediately head for the my grandma's small cabinet in the family room. Inside it was a bounty of treasure, stack upon stack of photo albums filled with mysterious strangers I'd never met but with whom I shared a common bond - my relatives.

Sometimes, I'd ask my grandma to tell me who these wonderful strangers were. Other times, I'd make up my own stories about them and their pasts. I may have gotten older as time passed, but the game never did.

Before our oldest girls were born, I restored old photos from each of our families and framed them for the play room. Occasionally, the girls ask me the same questions I asked my grandma. Who is that and where was that taken? They learn a little something about their family and I get an opportunity to relive some of those long-forgotten memories.

Within the frame's boundaries are photos of other generations in their prime, great-grandparents and grandparents in their youth, my husband and I as toddlers, family farms. It's hard to believe how quickly the time goes, how quickly things change.

According to Cathy Lander-Goldberg, a licensed clinical social worker and a professional photographer in St. Louis, Missouri, “displaying photos prominently in the home sends the message that our family and those in it are important to one another, and we honor the memories we have experienced."

More studies on printed photos and their link to self-esteem in children can be found by clicking on this link: Self-esteem and photography. It's a good read.

I don't know about you but I love how I feel when I see a photo with my girls or my family in it. It makes me feel good. I rarely notice what we are wearing or how we are posed, but I always recall how we were feeling when the photo was taken. Photography is actually more emotional than visual for me. It's the closest thing I have to freezing time.

Photos can turn even the most ordinary day into a spectacular day. If you photographed it, it must have been special, right?

To be honest, the thought of relying solely on digital images scares me. 

I always wonder what happens as technology and file formats change? What happens when the computer crashes or the CD becomes unreadable? What happens when you can't remember where on your computer or hard drive you've filed that special photo you're looking for? Or, what happens if something happens to the keeper of the files? Where do you even begin to find things?

What if you or your child's visual memories were gone in a breath?

These thoughts are what keeps me printing my favorite photos monthly and backing up my digital images. My kids may think I'm paranoid, but someday when my grandchildren come to visit and head straight for the photo albums, I'll know I've done my job:)

Food for thought:)