[Serenoa]

I just spent the past 6 months doing this exact process for the family book I was creating about my parents lives. Same as Donna, I had boxes of old photos that I was trying to make sense of and put into some kind of order. Actually, identifying and dating the old photos and then scanning them and adjusting them in PS took WAY-Y-Y more time than creating the layouts for the book.

My sister and I emailed each other many times with photos and the caption "Who is this?" or "When did they live here?". A timeline just developed on its own as part of this process.

I also included addresses, companies worked for, places lived, etc. along with all the vital statistics. It really helped in putting the pictures in order and it was very interesting to watch my parents grow from little children to teenagers, young married couple, and older.

I have done genealogy research for years and have a lot of info on long ago ancestors which only includes vital statistic type information (no details of their personal lives) only a very few facts I found and documents and deeds to use to put together their lives. But with more recent family members, once you have the timeline of basic events, you can then start adding all kinds of journaling stories, personal recollections and memories.

I have always envied those families whose ancestors kept detailed diaries of their lives - but it is not too late to start now for the benefit of future generations.