Photo albums can be excellent tools for helping stir the brains memory cells. We pointed out in our book, Brain Injury Survivor's Guide, that Beth did not remember me after her brain injury. She did not remember being married, nor did she remember having children.

Courtney Larson, in her book, I Can't Remember Me, stated, "I accepted that Jerry was my husband because he told me that he was, but I didn't remember having a husband." Actually, she asked Jerry to show her their marriage license.

Brain injuries affect memory. What part of the memory that is affected and how much of the memory that is affected depends on that particular brain injury. Photo albums can be a bridge to past memories hidden behind a fog in long-term memory. They can also be an excellent tool for creating new memories.

Donna Jones, the brain injury subject of One More Sunset written by her friend and primary caregiver Jim Connelly, took her camera everywhere she went. The photos would remind her of what she did the day before and the day before that and last week. Like most brain injury victims, Donna had no functioning short term memory. Her photos were a great blessing as she sought to resume a normal lifestyle.

Donna's brain injury was before digital cameras became the rage. It is much easier today to build photo albums. For instance, one recent Saturday morning Beth and I attended our grandson's football game. Immediately upon returning home, I downloaded the photos I had taken to the computer and the whole family enjoyed the game a second time shortly after it had ended.

Each photo session is downloaded to a folder on the computer that contains the date the photos were taken.

You can use photo albums to help you remember your co-workers or your friends or, even, your family members. Daily contact with spouses, children or parents will quickly move those names and faces into memory. But what about aunts, uncles, and cousins?

A very good family project would be creating photo albums of "things" done in the past: events, picnics, vacations, whatever. Keep the project going by taking photos as often as possible and organizing them into albums. The albums will provide an easy and quick reference to what a brain injured person has done recently.

The lack of short term memory often means that brain injured people cannot see any movement in their lives toward a "normal" life. They simply cannot remember what they did yesterday, or the day before. It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. To a brain injured person, a photo album could easily be worth a thousand memories.

Click here to see a Sample Friends Photo Album.