Momma never fussed much over the thought of chronicling her life in pictures. In fact, 99% of the photos I have from my childhood are of me, alone, or with my father- and all of them taken at his or another relative's request. "Everything I need is right here," she'd say as she tapped the side of her head with a warm smile.
But the purpose of photos, much like a wedding or funeral, are not so much to memorialize an event or moment for the subject, but to share the memories and stories with those who were not there to experience it for themselves. For grandchildren yet to be born, Prince Charmings yet to ride in on their white horse, and friends yet to be discovered.
Growing up all of the photos taken were intended for relatives. We must've had stock in Kodak and the USPS for all of the money spent developing half blurred disposable camera film and shipping padded envelopes. Growing up, and still living in California, I have family in Massachusetts, Louisiana, Texas, and Oregon. That's a lot of mail miles to log before the internet was really a 'thing!' I remember every Saturday I'd get on the phone and play with the slinky like cord while talking my grandparent's through that week's stack of photos. Of course, they'd already be a few weeks old by the time they were developed and in their hands, but it was the speed of the times. (Pssst, I'm the one with the perm above, that's one memory I might not have minded if it was lost to the steel trap!)
Today everything is instant. Nobody wants to wait for anything and sharing memories must be immediate, or we feel as though they have lost value. And, with digital pictures it seems like we have almost lost sight of what photos are for. We snap pictures of our newest duck lips face, the sandwich we had for lunch, and a piece of link we think looks like JFK, and all of them go out into the world through social media, for anyone to consume. But photos are meant to tell stories. How do you share those stories with the ones you love? It's not always easy to filter what can and can't be seen on social media, and most of the time I've lost a folder by the time I start a new one. I simply take too many photos. Wouldn't it be a shame if these moments, above, were lost in the fold of pictures of ice cream and my cat chasing some lint?
A Cloud Based sharing program or app, like Premium RealTimes service, can help you organize all of your photos, audio bytes, and videos for targeted sharing and consumption anywhere in the world. Free subscribers can take advantage of a massive 2GB of cloud storage (+5GB when you enable Auto Upload,) or enter the limited time code COUPONSCOM15 for 30 days of Premium RealTimes service and 25GB of storage FREE.
RealTimes is much more than storage- it's a way to organize moments and memories into living stories, montages and videos with in app editing, filters, touch-ups, labels, and more. Best of all, since it's cloud based you can allow remote users, such as grandparents or family friends access, or pull up your content on any app supported device with WiFi service. Parents will also save time when it comes to organization as RealTimes instantly and automatically creates montages of photos and videos organized by file name and date; never spend time fumbling to find the right photos when the relatives hit town, again! Look for RealTimes coupons on Coupons.com.
As you know I recently went up to Oregon to visit Momma and, despite being sick with the plague, made sure I talked her into a rare photo. I can count the photos we've taken together in the past decade on 1 hand, so this is definitely a shot I want to protect with multiple storage formats, and cloud storage is just one of them. If you have small children you are constantly reminded that no day is ever the same and the world constantly keeps turning- but this is equally true in all of our relationships and experiences. Yes, my mother's mind may be like a steel trap, but just think how sad it would be if I could never share those beautiful memories with my own children someday?
There is no such thing as a useless photo in a day and sage when photos are instant and infinite in production. Don't let a lack of storage stop you from chronicling all of those magical, and even mundane, moments. Who is someone you know who would love to see your photos and stories on RealTimes cloud storage?
What Daughter Says: Don't keep your memories in a steel trap, share them with those who matter most. Use a cloud storage service.
To help you plan and create new memories RealTimes is hosting a $300 Target Gift Card giveaway, enter below!
I like that a personal cloud drive backs up and protects all of your special moments, so you’ll never lose them!
ReplyDeletemcfallsk8er[at]aim[dot]com
Sounds like a great app. I like being able to share photos so easily :).
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty cool. I have a lot of pictures, and I have yet to do anything with most of them.
ReplyDeleteThis would have been too cool for words when the hubby and I were traveling about the country. I wanted my nieces and nephews to see what I was seeing. At least now they can see it more quickly thanks to RealTimes
ReplyDeleteThis would be amazing, we have family in Peru and they are always asking for more photos. Looks like you got a great shot with your mom!
ReplyDeleteWe just moved far away from our family - so I love the montages are auto-created from your photo and video memories.
ReplyDeletewhat a great way of preserving the family memories and great times forever and I love the cloud protection. thankyou, ken pohl19@comcast.net
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this app and the giveaway. I'll definitely be entering!
ReplyDeleteWe don't live close to any family. This would be a great way for them to see their grandson/nephew in a fun way.
ReplyDeleteII lost a lot of precious photos when my hard drive crashed and it was just devastating. I am downloading this app so it never happens to me again.
ReplyDeleteLooks super easy to use, and a great way to share memories with friends and family.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Great for family and friends who live far away.
ReplyDeleteI would love to try this app out myself. I hate to loose precious pictures due to lack of storage or a phone issue. I will definitely be checking this out!
ReplyDeleteWow, what an awesome app! I love sharing our special moments with our out of town family.
ReplyDeleteI love that it protects my memories. I lost all of my sons pics from his first year or two all because my computer crashed and I hadn't backed anything up. Let's just say I've learned my lesson.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to keep those special moments organized. Plus a nice way to share them with loved ones!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like an amazing app to try. My parents travel for six months of the year. This would be a great way to share photos with them.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. It will make sharing our photos with our loved ones so much easier. I am going to try this for sure.
ReplyDeleteWe need to get Realtimes. I know my family would really love it.
ReplyDeleteI really like how easy it makes editing photos and videos together. I'm so bad at that so I appreciate not having to do the hard work!
ReplyDeleteWe have family all over the country - and i love how simple it would be to share photos and videos with them!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. I am always so afraid I am going to lose all of my photos!
ReplyDeleteThis is such an awesome idea! We no longer live near the kid's grandparents, and they miss them something fierce! This would be awesome to store our photos of the kids as they grow, but also allow them to see what is happening in our neck of the world.
ReplyDeleteI have family all over the place so this is just awesome. It would be really helpful, especially keeping my memories safe. Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great app! Awesome giveaway as well!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great photosharing app! I need a new one and this one looks great!
ReplyDeletei love this app. i could def use it because most of my family lives at least 1300 miles away from me. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletewe live away out of state from our family so each month i send printed photos home. this is an app i could certainly use. gonna check it out.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had something like this when we first started our family. I have so many photos and no idea where they all are...
ReplyDeleteI need to do this.... I take so many photos and they just sit there taking up space.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. I think I would love to get a look at my grandparents stuff.
ReplyDeleteLook that! I gotta say it is all about the memories and at some point of time it is all we have left. This is a great way to preserve the priceless!
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