Every Christmas when people ask me for gift ideas, the first thing that pops into my head is "more time." More time to research. More time to relax. More time to spend with friends and family. So this year I've come up with a way to give the gift of time to some of the people on my holiday list...

How many stacks of old photos are lying around waiting to be organized into photo boxes or albums, or digitally scanned and saved on CD? How many old family photos have no names on the back and are waiting for someone to connect them with the right relative to help identify them. How many family stories are waiting to be written down or recorded? How many videotapes or 8mm film reels are sitting in a drawer waiting to be transferred to DVD before they become obsolete? Many people have things that never seem to make it off their "to do" lists (or even on them for that matter) related to organizing and cataloging their history, and this is where giving the gift of time comes in.

Instead of creating something new this Christmas, or buying a gift in the store, why not get some of those "to do" items done for a family member or other loved one on your gift list. Collect the family photos and organize them into safe photo storage boxes, or scan them into your computer to burn on CD or DVD. You can then take this a step further, by emailing some of the unidentified ancestral photos to as many relatives as possible to see if they can identify any of the people or places. Ditto with transferring the old videotapes to DVD. Or you might want to approach some of your loved one's relatives to see if they would be willing to record or write down some of their family stories and then assemble these into a book. I think you get the idea. The only hard part is coming up with the time to get something like this done (there's that "time" again). But just imagine the satisfaction you'll feel at preserving this important history. And your recipient is sure to appreciate your thoughtful gift!