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Courtney Vick's avatar

I'm a minimalist so I applaud the purging. I agree with the generic, but IDK that I could let go of random unflattering pics, Aside from my own! But my husband died unexpectedly 3yrs ago and I'd be greatful for even the worst photos of him. Every now and again someone finds an old one of him and I get so happy. I think I'm okay with a digital hoard if it's of people and hopefully organized by year.

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Stephen Pao's avatar

Courtney, I am so sorry to hear about the unexpected death. This is so sad. I am glad that even the worst photos of him bring you joy.

I am OK with digital hoarding, too. My iPhoto libary is a mess, with unflattering photos and all!

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Courtney Vick's avatar

Thank you - He's certainly missed, but we had wonderful adventures. Have you considered doing a post about end of life or estate planning? I think it's a topic many don't understand, or even know all the options that one could do.

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Stephen Pao's avatar

Thanks, Courtney. I did do a post on estate planning here. https://www.retiredpdx.com/p/updating-the-estate-plan

I also did one about a digital estate plan. https://www.retiredpdx.com/p/a-digital-estate-planning-concern

Interested to hear your thoughts!

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Terry McCann's avatar

I went through a similar process when my parents died with their photo albums - and they had quite a few. I was scanning the “good” ones for distribution amongst my siblings mostly.

I have to say No 5 was slightly disproven by your example. Maybe scan the ones that spark a memory for you? Even if you know nobody else will want them. In time we need the odd aide-memoire.

If I applied No 4 with your example in mind, I would have ceased to exist long ago 😂.

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Stephen Pao's avatar

Thanks for the comment! For #5, we actually look for coin laundry every time we go anywhere longer than a week. The difference is that now we have the Internet so it’s easy to plan ahead,. It’s less of an adventure…

As for #4, this isn’t a problem in the digital era as it’s easier to “zoom”, frame, preview, and retake photos in real-time! Also, the 0.5 selfie is just good at distorting people anyway!

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