After cremations as part of our cremations services, as we reflect on the life of the loved one we have lost, we find that things we might have taken for granted when they were alive suddenly become precious treasures that we want to keep because they evoke such strong memories and they have so much more meaning.
While some of these things are items that belonged to our loved one that we can’t imagine them without imagining those things, there are other things that may surprise us when we find ourselves getting sentimental over them.
One of those is our loved one’s handwriting. Everyone has their own unique handwriting. Some people write so small or so illegibly that it can take great effort to read what they’ve written, but there is joy and satisfaction at making out the words. Other people have such neat and precise penmanship that the strokes of the letters themselves are a wonder to behold.
Handwriting is personal. And, more than that, within that handwriting are things that are personal about our loved one or that reflect something they loved and care about.
We may find old letters and cards that our loved one wrote to us and we get a new perspective on what they were thinking at the time, who we were at the time, and the tenor of our relationship at the time. It can be quite comforting to reflect on how much they and we changed and grew in the time between when those letters were written and the present.
We may also find journals or diaries that our loved one kept through the years. It can be an amazing find to get insights into what they were thinking, what they were dealing with at various times, and what mattered most to them. Many times, these revelations are something they didn’t share with anyone else, instead confiding them only with pen and paper in bound books we may not have even known about.
Another neat treasure of handwriting can be recipe cards. They may be family heirlooms, so to speak, handed down generationally, so we could find recipes that were written by people we never met, but that our mothers knew and loved.
There are also, within every family, those recipes that are family favorites. They are the recipes of our childhood, our comfort food, and of holidays and other special celebrations. There may be that one recipe that was made only at Thanksgiving or on our birthday. The recipe cards, in our mother’s handwriting, may have stains of oil or blurred ink from use that add to the character of the recipe card.
So, how do we preserve these treasures? Paper, of course, tatters, tears, and fades over time, which can mean the risk of losing what our loved one wrote on it.
One of the easiest ways to preserve our loved one’s handwriting is to have it digitized. There are many easy-to-use document cameras that won’t break the bank for you to choose from. With built-in high-definition optical character recognition (OCR) software, scanning those handwritten letters, cards, journals, diaries, and recipe cards can be a nice afternoon project that can preserve the memories and the wisdom of our loved one through their own handwritten words.
Guidance on preserving family handwritten treasures one of the cremations services we offer, so you can depend on our compassionate and experienced team at Hopler & Eschbach Funeral Home to help you. You can visit our funeral home at 483 Chenango St., Binghamton, NY 13901, or you can call us today at (607) 722-4023.