In Death, New Discoveries

Perfectly trimmed and waxed handlebar mustache; dark, wavy hair; piercing eyes: That was the maternal grandfather I knew, the one from the sepia-toned photograph that hung in an oval wood frame in my Nina's living room. I never knew José Silvano Saucedo any other way. He died in his fifties, long before any of his grandchildren were born.

But I'm getting to know him better, and so are my seven siblings. In 2009, the eight of us faced the most heart-wrenching losses of our lives: Mom and Dad died within months of each other. It was a year of caregiving with love and gratitude for all they had cared and given to us. In the end, we were left with memories embedded deeply within us—and a house filled with family heirlooms and boxes no one had opened in decades.

We used to laugh at Mom's penchant for hanging on to a one-year-old's first drawing, a four-year-old's first letter to Grandma and Grandpa, an old tablecloth, or a piece of lace. Now I silently thank her.

Courtesy of Julia Bencomo Lobaco

From those dusty sealed cardboard boxes, my grandfather sprung to life: playing with the family cocker spaniel, standing behind the counter of the family hardware business wearing a funny-looking hat, and, most touching to me, posing for his wedding picture. There, between him and my grandmother Guadalupe García Saucedo, whom we called Nina, is a little girl, also dressed in white. She's Teresa García, Nina's youngest sister, whom she raised after their parents died. What a loving man my grandfather must have been to accept a child into a barely budding marriage. He and Nina later had five children of their own.

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In death and through Mom's compulsive saving habits, she and Dad have resurrected their past and given it to us as a gift. It's ours to accept and share.

Who knows who you'll get to know if you open up the boxes of preserved history in your loved one's home? Once you've made your discoveries, here are some strategies to ensure that future generations are able to know them, too. And, in the process, get to know you.