Every year, right around this time, my family starts panicking about finding the perfect Christmas present for Grandma and Grandpa.

Unlike younger folks, shopping for the older generation isn’t simply a matter of figuring out gifts that tie in to their interests. They’re of an age where they already have just about everything they want and, if anything, would really like to jettison some of the junk that’s piled up over the years. One thing they hold on to ferociously: the dozen or so boxes of slides and photographs they’ve compiled over the years.

So this year I suggested to VH that we help his parents transfer slides into DVD format, enhancing colors in the process and preserving his folks’ memories so we can all enjoy them in years to come. We’ve already done this for them once on their 50th wedding anniversary when my husband spent hours doing a slide transfer to prepare an hour-long DVD we played at their party.

Why not do the same with their boxes of memories from their travels over the years? It’s not like they’d ever think to do a 35 mm slide transfer themselves — even if they could figure out how to use a program to do it.

Sure, it’s a bit self-serving. After all, we’ve all grown a bit tired of trying to talk over the hum of Grandpa’s ailing projector as we huddle in front of a bed sheet hung on the living room wall.

But after the last time, when the overheating projector melted one of the slides and prompted a rather colorful stream of language from Grandpa, I’m pretty certain he’d appreciate having their favorite memories moved to a more permanent, reliable form, too.

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