On April 28, 1993, twenty-two years ago, I drove from Oklahoma City to Tulsa, Oklahoma to meet my fiancé. He worked half a day and then we met at his house before driving to A Chapel by the Courthouse to get married. Yes, we were eloping and only the minister would be present for the tying of our knot.
After performing the wedding ceremony, we handed the minister our camera and he took four photos. Each photo was dark, blurry, or both, but those are the only images we have of that precious day. And, where have those photos been for the past 22 years? In a magnetic photo album being touched by both acid and glue and possibly PVC.
My wedding photo, 28 Apr 1993
This weekend, I thought about those 22-year-old photos and decided I needed to do something about them. Since we moved less than a year ago, I had to dig through a few boxes and piles before I found the album that contains not only these four photos, but also photos of our honeymoon, a wedding shower, and a wedding reception that my husband’s church held about a month later. What kind of condition are the photos in?
Our honeymoon in South Padre Island, Texas (there’s a “matching” photo with my husband)
Actually, the photos don’t appear damaged… yet. But, you can see how the pages of this magnetic album are beginning to yellow. On some pages, the yellowing has actually crept beneath the photos.
It really won’t take much time to remove the hundred or so photos and transfer them to an acid-free album. Then, I’d love to both scan the best photos and create a scrapbook. But, for now it is a quick and easy job to put these photos in an album where they will be safe and preserved for many more decades.
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