Short answer: gather everything they wrote by hand, keep the originals flat in a folder away from light, damp and heat, and make a good scan or phone scan of each piece straight away. Then use the copies, not the originals, for anything you frame, print or share, and write down the story behind each piece while someone still remembers it.
Last updated: 3 November 2026. The storage and scanning advice on this page follows the US National Archives, the Library of Congress and Apple's and Google's own help pages, checked on that day; the sources are at the bottom.
Handwriting is one of the most personal things a person leaves. You recognise it before you read a word: the way your mother wrote her capital M, the slant of your grandfather's shopping lists, the birthday cards from a friend who always signed off the same way. It is also easy to lose. Letters are thrown out with old paperwork, recipe cards stay in a kitchen drawer of a home that is being cleared. This page explains how to find it, protect it and keep it close.
Where to find it
- Letters and postcards, including ones they sent to others: ask relatives and old friends.
- Birthday and Christmas cards, often kept in a drawer for years.
- Recipe cards and notebooks, with stains that are part of the story.
- Notes in books: a name inside the cover, comments in the margin, a dedication.
- The back of photos, address books, diaries, calendars, shopping lists, a note on the fridge.
Protect the originals
Keep originals flat, in folders or boxes, somewhere cool, dry and dark. Attics, basements and spots near radiators are the worst places. Take out metal paper clips and rubber bands, and never use tape to repair a tear. If a letter is folded and the paper is brittle, leave it folded rather than forcing it open. The US National Archives has a practical guide on storing family papers and photographs at home, and the Library of Congress gives the same kind of advice for prints.
Make a good copy
- Scan it. A flatbed scanner gives the most detail and is the best choice for faded or fragile pages.
- Or use your phone. On an iPhone or iPad, the Notes app can scan documents. Google's free PhotoScan app is made for photographing prints and works for cards. Lay the page flat in daylight, no flash, camera straight above.
- Scan both sides if there is writing on the back, and the envelope if it has an address or a stamp.
- Name the file with who wrote it, to whom and the year, and keep at least two copies in different places, as the Library of Congress advises for digital photos.
Ways to keep it close, compared
| Way | Good for | Risk to the original | Not the best choice when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Originals in a folder or archive box | Keeping the real paper safe | Low, stored well | Several people in the family want to see it |
| Framing a printed copy | A line or a signature you want to see every day | None, if you frame the copy | You frame the original in sunlight |
| A keepsake made from a scan (engraving, embroidery, printed in a book) | Something to wear, hold or give | None | You want the whole letter and its context |
| Shared folder of scans | Giving every sibling a copy | None | You want the story and the voice next to the scan |
| The Memory Palace | The scan, a photo of the person, the story and a voice reading it, together, shared with family | None | You only want a framed print, or you are looking for a scanning service |
Keep the story with it
A letter without context becomes a mystery in one generation. For each piece, write down who wrote it, to whom, when, and why it matters. Better still, ask someone who knew the writer to read it aloud and tell what they remember, and record that on your phone. A recipe card with your aunt explaining "she always doubled the butter" is worth more than the card alone. If a photo of the writer is faded, the free photo restore tool can repair it first.
The Memory Palace, honestly
The Memory Palace is your own 3D memory palace: you hang photos, voice recordings, videos and written stories in rooms you walk through. For handwriting, that means the scan of a letter hangs next to a photo of the person, with the story under it and a recording of someone reading it aloud. It is private by default. You invite family and friends into a room or a wing, and choose per person whether they can view only or also add. With a collect link for the room, relatives and friends can add the cards and letters they kept, from the browser, without an account.
- Every sibling sees the same letter. Nobody has to decide who keeps the only copy to look at.
- The voice next to the writing. A recording of the person reading, if you have one, or of someone who loved them.
- You can leave with everything. A full ZIP export on every plan, including the free plan with 1 GB, with a page that opens without internet.
What it lacks: it does not scan for you, and it does not store the paper; the originals still need a folder and a dry cupboard. It does not make keepsakes or prints. It is encrypted in transit and at rest, but not end-to-end. And it is made by a small team in Leuven, Belgium.
A simple way to start
Choose five pieces: one letter, one card, one recipe, one note, one signature. Scan or photograph them today, name the files, and write two lines about each. Put the originals in one folder. That small set is already something you can share with the family, and often it makes others go looking in their own drawers.
If you want the handwriting, the photos and the voices in one place, you can start a palace and invite your family to add what they kept.
Read on: old letters, diaries and documents: how to keep and scan them, preserving family recipes, collecting photos and stories from everyone after a death, and all guides on legacy.
Sources
- US National Archives, storing family papers and photographs: archives.gov/preservation/family-archives/storing.html
- Library of Congress, care, handling and storage of photographs (limit markings; write on the back near the edge with a soft graphite pencil; no adhesives, sticky notes, paper clips or rubber bands; cool, dry, stable storage): loc.gov/preservation/care/photo.html
- Apple Support, scan documents on iPhone or iPad with Notes: support.apple.com/en-us/108963
- Google Photos Help, scan photos with PhotoScan: support.google.com/photos/answer/7177983?hl=en
- Library of Congress, Personal Digital Archiving, digital photos (at least two copies in different places; check them once a year; descriptive file names; tag people and subjects): digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/photos.html