Images worth saving

My photo archives include some pictures taken by my first father-in-law, Phil Kroon, who was a captain in the U.S. Army in World War II.

I found a roll of negatives last night that he shot around 1948 of his young daughter Diane, who later became my first wife and the mother of my sons.

I think they were living in California at the time, but there are some snow scenes that probably were shot during a winter trip home to Grand Rapids, Mich., and four shots of a crashed car. I seem to remember a family story about a rollover accident involving a trailer, so this is probably the car.

The film is not in good shape. It’s scratched and the emulsion is cracked and crazed from being exposed to temperature and humidity fluctuations over the past 60+ years, but I think the images are well worth preserving.

I digitized the images and emailed them to Diane this morning. I’m pretty sure she’s never seen them.