DEAR ABBY: When my mother died in 1995 at the age of 83, she left behind five cartons of loose photographs that she had intended to sort and label. "Sometime when I have time," she always said. I couldn't identify half the people in the pictures, but I knew who could.
After the funeral and lunch at the small country church, I spread the photographs on two tabletops and invited the gathered relatives to dig through them to select those photos they wanted for themselves or others they know who were in them.
For more than three hours, the survivors marveled, laughed and reminisced about days gone by. My uncles and aunts identified the individuals in the frames, sought out the person to tell them the occasion and setting when the picture was taken, and then handed them the pictures.
Everyone left with a handful of precious memories. -- BILL B. FROM MINNESOTA
DEAR BILL B.: What a terrific idea. And what a clever theme for a holiday party when relatives gather to celebrate.