Lori Allen — Act now to document your lifetime of memories

We sat down for dinner at the new table with the crisp linens. The silverware was painted with bright colors that impeccably matched the linens.

It’s always a treat to get an invite from a friend to come over for food and wine. It was a show house, like a model home with everything precisely in place. The paint hues were rich and deep, the granite was polished and everything had a glow of sparkling perfection.

While we enjoyed the beautiful flawless surroundings and our dinner (cooked on the brand new grill), we wanted to imagine the excitement of getting to pick out all of these new furnishings, new chairs, new cupboards, heck, new floors. There was a touch of envy looking at it all.

But it turns out that the task of choosing all those elements for your home is not very exciting when it’s just another step in a long to-do list that follows a disaster.

When the fire woke them that night, the homeowners escaped the blaze as flames literally licked the hair on their heads. It was a tragedy to see their home of so many years ravaged by the massive fireball.

So many memories created within those walls and halls, in each drawer and on each table, in each closet and behind each door.

The loss of a home is devastating. Even with insurance, the nightmare is far from over.

After the heartbreaking devastation, your insurance company may require a list of expensive items. Some coverage requires you to detail each high-dollar item lost in the fire.

Or tornado. Or whatever horror you have to endure to get to this overwhelming nightmare. As you begin making a list, “dresser” in the bedroom seems fairly easy.

But trying to recall every specific item in each of the drawers is just too much as all you can envision are the remaining ashes. Writing down the fur coat, the art on the walls — basically anything of value — is a daunting task.

You will yearn for things that can't be replaced such as documents, receipts, letters and the card your son gave you for Mother’s Day. The notes you made to yourself, the ornaments, and the gifts from friends. And the photos, oh God, the photos.

You scanned and uploaded a few, but there was still a stack that ended up in a box for when you had more time, something you would get to later. Now they’re gone.

As you create the endless list you begin think of the million things you wish you had done. With cameras so readily available and on nearly every phone, there simply is no excuse not to be prepared.

Grab that camera and start documenting. Take a video or photos.

Even if you only have 60 minutes, just do what you can. But don’t just take a snap of the dresser; open the drawers and keep shooting.

Go to your closet and capture every shelf, rack and basket. Wander through every room in your house; if it’s in your house or garage, from bicycles to beach towels, keep the camera rolling.

Next and most important, save it to the cloud or put it on a thumb drive and into a fire safe. If you don’t know how to do that, ask a savvy neighbor kid.

They’ll know. A thumb drive will cost you $10 tops. Many insurance companies today offer cloud storage for you to put your digital images and video.

Finally, mark your calendar for next year at the same time so that your information stays current. You’d be surprised how much can change in a year.

The pain of losing your home is enough. The hour it would take you now to digitally capture your belongings will provide so much comfort later. Even if you never lose your home, you’ll be glad you took this step.

Arriving back home from dinner that night our tired sofa, mismatched linens, and heck, even our scratched wood floors were just a bit more appreciated. They weren't perfect or new, but they were there.

We found it was a great opportunity to take out the video camera and capture all of that beauty.

This story was originally published May 27, 2014 at 4:45 PM with the headline "Lori Allen — Act now to document your lifetime of memories."