Although it's not well understood by the general public, your digital assets are at peril in the event of your death. Many online services terminate member accounts upon death leaving family members scrambling and fighting to regain access. You may think your photos are stored safely on Shutterfly or Flickr or one of the multitude of photo sharing sites, but once you're gone, so are they. Same goes for your iTunes purchases. Hard to believe, but it's true. If this concerns you, Gen-Ark is a new company who is dedicated to providing PERMANENT storage solutions for ALL your digital assets. They will even upgrade various digital formats as older ones become obsolete guaranteeing your digital assets become a legacy for the future generations of your family. If you want to learn more about the important field of digital asset preservation, take advantage of their FREE webinar series. The first installment is scheduled for August 14th and will introduce you to the concept of digital asset preservation. This is such a new field, that even lawyers are scrambling to make sense of it all. So be on the forefront and sign up today!

As part of the human experience, we all lose loved ones. Sometimes after a life long-lived and sometimes entirely too early. Many of us inherit our loved one’s belongings which often include their photo collections. These boxes come home with you, are too painful to face and get pushed into a closet to deal with later.

However, once you’re ready, these photos can be an incredible way to reconnect with your loved one. I have witnessed several clients face these boxes and have seen the comfort their photos bring. You might come across photos of yourself you’ve never seen, happy memories from times shared with your loved one. You’ll also get a glimpse into your loved one's soul, to see the world as they saw it and to learn more about their passions simply by what they chose to photograph. You might learn things about your loved one you never knew, like trips they took or work experiences they didn’t discuss. Our photos become a visual documentation of our lives, a visual autobiography, and viewing your loved one’s photos allows you to experience their lives as seen through their lens.

Once you’ve sorted through your loved one’s photos, it’s important to preserve, protect and share them. A reputable company like Fotobridge can scan and digitize them for you and, in turn, giving copies of the digital files to other family members can become a priceless gift. Making sure they are stored in an archival-quality box in a temperature-controlled area of your house is extremely important. And creating traditional photo albums or digital photo books and slideshows will help you share their memories and bring your loved one’s photos back to life again.

Just as the grieving process differs for everyone, there is no magic amount of time when you’ll be ready to open these boxes and face these photos, but once you're ready, you might be pleasantly surprised at the comfort these photos bring and the sense of intimate connection you feel upon seeing the world through their eyes.