The mail came; in the pile was a letter from my second cousin, Carol, in Illinois. It was a fat envelope so I knew something good was inside. I settled down on the deck with Tika in my lap as always. I opened the letter and was both very excited and very disappointed.
It happened again.
People sharing family photos without identifying who the folks are.
Carol knew who they were because they were relatives living nearby in Illinois. I had only a guess as to who they were. I only met these more-distant relatives once back about 30 years ago.
So what to do? Send them back and ask for IDs? Scan them in and send that and ask for IDs?
I chose the easiest thing. I emailed Carol with a description of who they were ("tousled gray hair in a green shirt") in hopes that she will remember............ or have similar photos.
Certainly these photos can and will be identified. But it surely would have been easier had Carol numbered them and made a name list of who they were. (Notice I did NOT say write on the back of the photo.)
I explained all this out loud to Tika and she gave a big sigh and rested her chin on the chair. That was her way of saying, "Yes, too bad."
We can ALL learn from this: do not send family photos to family without identification. It surely does matter.
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