Here’s evidence that you shouldn’t get rid of your old, un-developed film rolls.
Isaac said that my family’s old film would be ruined after so many years, but being a sappy nostalgic, I felt it was worth a try. For years I was my family’s patron saint of neglected film, hording every un-developed roll, so no one would toss them out. And look at what I found, a photo of my brother, Ryan, and I playing in the sand. (There was also a fabulous photo of my father posing shirtless on a dune buggie, ‘fro and all.) It was so worth the expense of developing a few damaged rolls.
I love this photo and the would-be-forgotten memories it carries.
My parents took on us regular vacations to the beaches of Florida, most
of which were too long ago for me to remember. Now, here’s one memory I can come back to.
This makes me happy on so many levels:
Messiness. Sand everywhere. Good times.
Ryan. Ryan was such a cutie and incredibly generous, with the most infectious laugh, but he could be a real pest too. Here we are, playing happily together. And, ladies, let me add that Ryan grew up to look an awful lot like Leonardo DiCaprio. But, alas, he’s taken. His amazing wife looks like Raquel Welch.
Figure heads. See the shadows of my parents’ heads bobbing into frame? Hovering for a photo, I can just imagine the love behind the camera, "Smile, kids!" I’ve been there with my own children.
It’s black & white. Mom and Dad have never been fans of colorless film. How I stumbled across the one black and white roll they’ve ever taken, who knows?
Those bangs. The day that I first had my short bangs cut as an adult, Isaac and I met up with my sister and her husband for a symphony performance of The Lord of The Rings that evening. I leaned over for my sister’s first take on my new look and said, "Who do I look like?" After a thoughtful pause that yielded no reply, I gittily pronounced, "Little girl me!" Her response? "Oh my gosh, you’re totally right!"
I knew it. I knew I couldn’t throw away that film.
I also have a horde of undeveloped film that I should get developed… I wonder what I would find?
i developed 15 year old roll of film last year. only a couple of pictures turned out but it was also well worth it! a great picture of me and a cousin in canada on the lake al dirty playing in the dirt/sand. fun. i think it is so funny that you wrote about your bangs in this post, it was the first thing i noticed about the picutre! i though to myself “wow heather has the same bangs now as she did back then!” love them. i have always wanted bangs like that but sadly, i dont have enough hair 🙂
How truly wonderful. I didn’t know that would work!
It’s amazing how pictures can bring memories flooding back. What an unexpected treasure that must be! Love the bangs. Alas, being the curly girl that I am, bangs are only possible with a curling iron and copious amounts of AquaNet.
How wonderful! I’ve been scanning in old photos the last couple of months, because they’re yellowing rapidly and I don’t think the negatives are usable any more. That’s an exercise in memory retrieval too.
After my grandmother died, I found an old card box full of various family photos. At the very bottom, in velum envelopes, were ten to twenty old negatives. My husband thought they would be all for crap, but I took them into a local photography shop and about one week later, walked home with gorgeous shots of my father and his family, including an uncle who died not long after the picture was snapped. Sometimes, you have to go on a wing and a prayer.
What a wonderful story! Great post and photo!
This is a beautiful story and photo/memory! I’m sure you are soooo glad you went ahead and developed the roll of film! I’ll have to go on a film roll hunt sometime! How precious!!!
That is so cute! I have been reading your blog for a while and I love it! I even showed my husband your bangs because I thought that they made such a statement about you and your style! Cute pictures. I have some undeveloped rolls-you have inspired me.
Oh I never get rid of film! Something cool is always on there!
My dad just found and developed one of his parents’ rolls of film from the early 70s. Really cool to look through, since they passed long ago.
What a fantastic treat, undeveloped film is. Enjoy.
Great picture!
Hmmm… wonder if anyone can develop the old Kodak disk film. I think my parent’s have a bag of like 50 disks that they’ve never developed. Wonder what’s on those!
So glad you saved that film – and so glad you finally developed it. What a treasure!
P.S. love short bangs!
Wonderful picture (definitely worth a thousand words!).
So, if I cut my bangs short I’ll look 20 years younger? 😉
wonderful. what a treasure for you!
It’s always worth it to try to develop film you find. In the 60s my mom found an old Brownie camera tucked way back in a closet of her parent’s house, and on it were photos from 20 years before. They were priceless!
oh my gosh – what a great story and a lucky find! i love it! 🙂
That photo is so wonderful! What a lucky and perfect find!
That was such a wonderful story!, and such a great photo. Photography is so amazing… capturing a moment forever.
Hi Heather, I was just reading your MIL’s blog and I noticed that she is LDS. Are you as well? I was just wondering because I am. Just curious! 🙂
What an excellent find! I adore old family photographs, like whoever took the photo thought that moment was something worth remembering, like it was a split second that person never wanted to forget. With a couple of kids looking so cute and happy who wouldn’t want to preserve the day forever?! You can almost hear the giggling…
Oh my, thank goodness you did get the film developed. I can only imagine what it must have been like to get those pictures through.
Cherry xx
Hi Heather,
I found your blog through a friend of a friend of a friend and I am simply STUNNED by your creativity and TALENT! I can’t even sew a straight line, I can barely do a scrapbook page and I have no idea how to decorate- but you are amazing, seriously. I wish I had just a smidge of your talent, but until then hopefully you don’t mind me ooing and aawing at your beautiful masterpieces. I am so excited about your fabric line… maybe I’ll take some sewing classes 🙂 Hopefully I don’t seem like some weird stalker but I just had to say something. Your room that you have for all your crafts, I thought I was looking at something from a magazine, it was absolutley delicious. Ok, I’ll quit babbling, have a great day!
Such a neat photo. I need to scan some of our old pictures. Some are about 100 yrs old and fading fast.
~Amelia
That’s an awesome picture!
I was inspired this weekend to finally go through my shoe boxes full of old photographs and organize them. So wonderful to revisit all of those memories!
It’s so cool to develop “unknown” film! You never know what you’re going to get!! Such an awesome memory you found!
Wow…I feel extra special being married to your brother. Thanks for the amazing compliment too. I think Jared looks so much like his dad in this photo. Your son looks so much like you too.
You were so sweet!:) That’s so amazing after couple tens of years to watch the old photos and return back to the time of our childhood. It is incredible feeling. I like both, the post and your photo, good luck:)