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Archive for the ‘Family Photos’ Category

Documenting Our Puerto Rican Roots, One Grave at a Time

Posted in Ancestry, Ancestry Research, Family History, Family Photos, Puerto Rican Ancestry on May 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

In Puerto Rico, many cemeteries are old and damaged. Storms, financial difficulties, and time constraints have made it challenging to keep them safe. These places hold the names and stories of our family members. If we don’t act now, we will lose them forever.

That’s why I started adding my family to FindAGrave.com. It’s a free website where you can create pages in memory of people who have passed away. You can add their names, photos, and stories so others can learn about them too.

I made a special page for my dear mother and her parents:

🌹 Aurora Valentín Ramos (1934–2017)

I was inspired by my husband’s ancestors on the site. His family, on the website, goes back to 1791:

👉 Angeline T. Beatie

Even if you only make one page, it helps. Every name we add keeps their memory alive. It also allows other people who are looking for their family.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Memorials on FindAGrave.com

Creating digital memorials on FindAGrave.com is a free and powerful way to honor your loved ones and preserve Puerto Rican heritage. Here’s how to get started:

✅ How to Create a Memorial:

  1. Create a Free Account: Visit FindAGrave.com and sign up for a free account.
  2. Search Before You Add: Use the search feature to check if the person is already listed, avoiding duplicates.
  3. Add a New Memorial:
    • Click “Add a Memorial”
    • Enter full name, birth and death dates, and burial location
    • Choose or create the correct cemetery
  4. Upload Photos
    • Add headstone images or personal photos
    • Upload documents or obituaries if available
  5. Write a Short Biography: Share a few lines about their life, family, and legacy.
  6. Link to Relatives: Connect spouses, parents, children, and siblings who are also listed on the site.
  7. Update and Share: Continue to refine the memorial as you discover new facts, and share it with family.
Tombstones in a cemetery in Puerto Rico, featuring the names Aurora Valentín Ramos and Monserrate Ramos Muñoz, along with inscriptions and flowers.
Close-up of a weathered cemetery gravestone with names and dates etched into the surface, honoring Justa M. Silva and Jesus Ramos Acevedo.
My Great Grandparents’ Tombstone

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Inventory of Family Memories

Posted in Family History, Family Photos, Uncategorized, tagged , , on February 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

My husband recently got boxes of photos from his aunts who want to pass on the memories to the family. They are in their 80’s and 90s. They did a great job of annotating in the back of the photos with the year and who was in the photo.

It inspired me to look at photos I have scanned (and hundreds in need of scanning) and realized I need a better way of documenting these family treasures and how to share them with the family.

This is what I did:

  1. Created a folder in my google drive. I called it RinconForest. More on that in another post.
    You can create cloud drive using Apple’s iCloud or Microsoft’s OneDrive.
    If you want to learn more about the other free/low-cost cloud drive options, leave a comment and I will post on it.
  2. I uploaded a folder of pictures to the drive. It was a very easy drag-and-drop experience.
  3. I created a google sheet document with the link to the photo and other information. See below on Photo Inventory Spreadsheet.

Google Drive with photos uploaded

If you have a gmail account, here are instructions on Upload files and folders to Google Drive.
Dont have a gmail account? See Create a Google Account


Photo Inventory Spreadsheet

My intention for the spreadsheet was to not only remind me of what’s in the photo but also provide context to younger generations of the photos.

The following screenshot of the spreadsheet I created has

  • Link to the photo in google drive
  • Description of photo with information on where and who is in the photo.
  • Year or approximate year of the photo
  • Location- city/town where the photo was taken
  • Link to google maps as to the approximate location of the photo.

Spreadsheet for photo inventory in directory

What’s Next?
I am going to update the spreadsheet with all the picture name/location into the spreadsheet. I have an idea of using my technical skills to automate this.

I realized that I can add a description on the photo in google drive as well. Maybe do that first?

Enlist my family to update the photo/spreadsheet with memories and information.

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    What’s in a picture? What do your photos say?

    Posted in Family Photos, Uncategorized, tagged , , on February 12, 2012| 7 Comments »

    Looking for my roots is more than just finding names to place in a pedigree chart or finding the exotic lands they were from.  It is a way to celebrate our ancestors’ journey and to learn the lessons they provide us for own personal journey.

    Don’t get me wrong, I cherish the adventure of adding one more name to the tree or to find one ancestor (or should I say any ancestor) that was not born in the town of Rincon, Puerto Rico.  But as my relatives age (as do I), I relish the stories and pictures of what was important to them.  Here are some photos of my family and some of the lessons and values they have given me.

    Family – As our family migrated to New York in the 1940s and 1950s, being together to celebrate any occasion was important.  The birth of a child, a religious festival or ceremony (being Catholics specific celebrations included baptism, communion and confirmation), weddings and deaths are all common events in the human experience.  But seeing who are present and who are not in the photos is just as important.  Photos also illustrates the customs as well as the fads.   I have a photo of my mom in a poodle skirt that I cannot share due to fear of eternal damnation 🙂.

    The calendar of Jesus and the last supper (upper right hand side of the photo) is an important artifact as any.  [Now if I can only see the source of the calendar.  A local church perhaps?]

    Children – This is a photo of my cousins in Puerto Rico in 1960 in front of the cake for my baptism.  Looking at this photo tells me a lot of their personalities (Who is shy? Who is a ham?)  The house is my maternal grand parents home, a very simple wood home.  In the upper left side a picture of Jesus Christ, a sign of a religious house hold.

    Food – A Puerto Rican celebration would not be complete without arroz y gandules (rice and pigeon peas) and pernil (roast pork shoulder).  The wallpaper is classic of a 1950s kitchen apartment in New York (Spanish Harlem specifically), while my aunt’s sheepish and proud grin juxtaposed to my uncle’s (her brother-in-law’s) smile is true to their nature and personality.  He, a very jolly and generous soul.  She always ready to reply with zinger.

    Puerto Rican Food..

    To me these photos show me the true joy in their lives: family, children and food.  I have learned that I need to do some more celebrating.

    What do your photos say?

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