52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 – Week 49: Written

NOTE: I accepted the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge headed by fellow genealogy blogger Amy Johnson Crow. The idea behind this challenge is that you will receive email prompts, a word or phrase, every week, and you find something about your research or family history to write about.  Click HERE to read my first 52 Ancestors blog post in 2019.

Some families pass down heirlooms, others pass down recipes, but for me it has been photographs. Most of the family photos I have acquired over the years were from my mother. She always had a camera in her hands when I was growing up. Birthdays, Sunday dinners, family trips, school functions, random summer afternoons, you name it, she took a picture of it. Not only was she our family photographer, but she was also our family recorder, because she would also write on the back of photos.

But it’s not just the photos that she took. She also carefully wrote on the backs of photographs that were given to her by her parents and siblings. She added names, dates, and places preserving the memories of both the memories she experienced firsthand and the ones she experienced with only a discussion of the photo.

Flip over almost any photos in my collection and you will see my mother’s handwriting. As a family historian, I appreciate this more than ever now. Her notes have identified relatives, confirmed dates and timelines, and understand moments that I wasn’t even alive to witness.

Her handwriting isn’t just ink. It’s preservation in real time. It’s a tangible connection to our family’s past, a record of who we are, where we’ve been, and the moments that have shaped our lives.

Thanks Mom.