Is stuff online worth saving?

One hundred twenty-three years ago my great grandmother's first husband died in a hotel in Kansas City from asphyxiation from the gas having been left on over night (the hotel did not yet have electric lighting). A letter was hastily written on a piece of hotel stationary to be delivered to his wife in the neighboring farming community where she lived.

It is fortunate to me that someone thought to hang on to that note since I have become interested in genealogy and this was a fairly significant event in family history (had he not died I don't suppose I would be around since it was her second marriage that gave me my grandfather).

I long for scraps of anything that my dead relatives, wrote, created, etc. It connects me better to the past — the lives they lived, how they lived them. It somehow grounds me a little better ... well, it's rather hard to explain the draw of genealogy.

Sadly very little of the ephemera of everyday life was kept. I get it. It might have seemed like hanging on to junk mail — like you were a hoarder or whatever, but in this digital era we should be able to hold terabytes of what may appear to be ephemera.

I'm doing what I can – not for ego, I think, but for future generations that may find a connection to their past interesting.

> ...well, it's rather hard to explain the draw of genealogy.

I've noticed people becoming more interested in genealogy when they - let me phrase this delicately - reach a certain age. My speculation is that it is a component of grappling with one's own mortality. As the grays and wrinkles multiply, some obsess over healthy eating and exercise, some wealthier ones invest in immortality research, some get blood boys, and the rest feel an urgent need to research our genealogy; any detritus that shows our progenitors existed proves some trace of us having been here will remain, and perhaps our existence means something, as time cruelly keeps marching on.

People's interests change over time. It's not necessarily because folks are grappling with their own mortality. For instance, lots of older folks seem to get into bird watching.

I also want to point out that saying "let me phrase this delicately" to the person who is the subject of the sentence is not tactful. It's honestly kind of rude when you're on the receiving end. If you're going to judge me to my face, just say the words.