The older, the better! Unfortunately, these old 8mm and 16mm films only last approximately 70-80 years, in good storage conditions, before they disintegrate. I’m 55. My mom is 83 and my dad and grandparents have all passed away. Our home movies were stored in an old trunk in my parent’s basement for at least 40 years.

I have been using FOREVER to preserve my children’s photographs and videos. Recently, I realized I’d like to make sure my own childhood memories are saved as well. So, after asking my mom if I could take a look in the trunk, she arrived for Christmas with her car filled with boxes and bags of old photographs, slides, tapes, and 8mm movie reels. I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed by the quantity she brought me, but FOREVER was a life-saver! I purchased a FOREVER Box and started with the movies. It was an easy process to complete the form, write a master list of the tapes and movies, and ship it off. Although it did give me pause to send all of those memories off with the FedEx man, they arrived safely, and I was notified right away that they had been received in the digitization facility in Green Bay.

Once the digitization process was complete, my movies were returned, and I could access them in my FOREVER account. When I first watched them it was like unearthing a time capsule that had been buried underground generations ago! And, since I have FOREVER Streaming Video, I can share everything with my family even though we are apart. Each of my siblings and their children opened FOREVER accounts. We celebrated my mom’s 83rd birthday by having a family call while we all watched the same movies, at the same time, together on FOREVER. It was hands-down the happiest, most enjoyable family call we have had in a long time! One of my favorite clips? My grandma, mom, sister, and me jumping rope in my grandma’s driveway in 1973!

Tip: With the old movies, trying to watch them first may damage them. Trust FOREVER, and send them as they are. They will come back to you!