I’ve made a wonderful discovery this week. Our friends at MyHeritage have offered their photo colorizing services free during this month of COVID-19 drama. You can upload a black and white photo on their site and in a few seconds, it is magically turned into a color photo, just like that!
I tried a few, then went back for a few more, and then a few more. In my spare time, I’ve pulled about 1200 black and white family and ancestral photos from my files. But I didn’t stop there. Then I went to FamilySearch and looked through all of the photos in my main family ancestral lines and copied any photos I didn’t already have. I’ve colorized those too.
Some of these photos have really spoken to my heart, like the one above. It’s a photo of Ella Isadora Bushman, my 2nd great-grandmother Charlotte’s youngest sister. She was born in 1884 and she died in 1956. In this photo she is reading to her 2 youngest sons, Lloyd “Wells” and Arthur Eugene “Gene” who were born in 1915 and 1917. To see this tender moment, in color, almost 100 years later, is a gift.
Here is a random sampling of other photos that have come alive to me this week. I am connected to each of these people in some way. I am grateful for the lives they lived. This week I’ve watched in photos as many of them have grown up and lived out their lives. Almost all of them have passed on now. I am reminded of how short our stay here on earth is and how little we leave behind to show for it.
I hope these photos will help my family members live on, feeling perhaps a little closer to us now that we can see the color in their cheeks and the light in their eyes.
I’ve just got to add one more I just worked on. You’ve got to love these dresses! These are the daughters of Isaac Turley, brother of my 2nd Great-grandma Charlotte. Their names are Esther, Clara Ellen, Anna Priscilla and Frances. I think they look amazing!
Update 22 April 2020: Today the MyHeritage free colorization deal ended. I have colorized 4100 ancestral and family photos. I am so happy.
