About a year ago, I bought a scanner capable of scanning in documents for electronic sharing.

I had high hopes of scanning in family pictures I’ve been taking for decades and posting them in our family Facebook page.

Something always came up to keep me from the scanner – appointments, work, family obligations.

But every few weeks, I’d glance over at that unopened box, feel guilty and tell myself that I’d get around to scanning in all the pictures no one remembered I’d taken.

Until this week when social distancing became a familiar phrase in the world’s vocabulary.

That’s when I noticed the scanner box.

Excuse time was over. I had nothing to do for the foreseeable future, so it was time to put my money where my scanner was and get busy.

I dragged a chair from the dining room into my office, put the scanner on the seat and plugged it in.

After months of sitting in the box, I wasn’t sure the scanner would work, but the lights came on and the “ready” light flashed.

Then I went searching for all the photo albums we have.  I’d forgotten how many pictures I had until I started flipping through a few albums.

I had pictures from Easter, Christmas and backyard celebrations going back over 35 years. Page after page of family memories were right in front of me.

With each photo, my mind replayed what was going on – the laughter, the sound of the basketball hitting the concrete in the never-ending game in my parents’ driveway and the laughter of children from holiday to holiday.

My parents on their wedding day, full of hope and promise and no clue they’d have seven children and three times as many grandchildren.

There was my dad, full of life and laughter as he rode his grandchildren around the yard on his three-wheeler. He made them feel like they were riding the wind, and I never knew who had more fun, him or them.

There was my mom with a welcoming smile on her face in almost every picture. Her hair went from black to gray to snow white, but her beautiful smile never faltered.

There were dozens of pictures of my boys at playgrounds, splashing in water puddles in the driveway, eating ice-cream cones and playing in kiddie pools.

I’d forgotten my two youngest wore Batman capes everywhere we went, but I was reminded of those days when I saw the pictures of them complete with their capes and boots.

There were pictures of them filling Easter baskets with candy and dressing up for the annual Christmas play with their cousins.

I needed to share these feelings, so I started scanning in the pictures and got into a rhythm of scanning, saving and then posting to our family Facebook page.

Almost immediately, the comments started rolling in.

“Oh I remember that day!”

“Geez, they were so little!”

“Why didn’t anybody tell me my hair looked awful!”

What really surprised me was the reaction of my now-grown nieces and nephews. They remembered minute details from their childhood, and they said the pictures brought back those memories in vivid detail.

If you have photos on your cell phone, download them, save them and then share with your family.

If you have photo albums, get them out and take a leisurely trip down memory lane during this time when you’re home socially isolating.

You’re not alone when you’ve got those pictures in front of you for they’ll connect you with the people you love and the moments that made life special.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.