Changes to the Photo Memorials
When this website was first created many years ago, I wanted it to be a resource free of advertisements, free of solicitations, something that you could just learn from. I’m not a big fan of money. I woudl love it if our society was based on simple service – we all give what we can in whatever way we can, we all work hard, and everything is free for everyone.
Unfortunately, things don’t work that way. Maybe someday, but not today. Life circumstances changed, and made it necessary for this website to start paying for itself. Plus, kids grow up, finances don’t grow fast enough to keep the pace of what your kids need, you know the drill. And so, we signed up for a couple of affiliate programs. Nothing big, but something to at least help pay the bills.
And at some point I realized, earning money – that is not really a bad thing. We’re all stuck in the same world having to do the same thing – feed our families. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to help people forget some of their sadness, and be able to make a living while doing it.
I created the Photo Memorial product because I wanted to serve, to give something to those who needed some uplift and remembering, but also give my son the ability to earn a little money towards some things that he wants to do over the coming year. I thought that for sure if we offered something valuable, with a donate button, that those who felt it was valuable and helpful to them would donate. But those who are struggling with finances would at least be able to have something as well.
Well, it hasn’t turned out as well as we’d hoped. It’s been difficult to find the time to create the memorials. And no one has offered a donation for those we’ve created. (This could be because it takes us some time to create them, or because those who order them struggle with their finances….) So, starting tomorrow, we are going to go ahead and charge for them. We will also send a physical print, so it will not be a digital file only that you will need to print yourself. You will receive a print by mail as well. And we claim no copyright – the background image and the poem are both free from copyright, and you provide the individual’s picture, so there’s no need for us to copyright it. You can reproduce it however, wherever you would like.
As much as we hoped that we would not have to do this, to charge a specific amount for the memorials, we don’t have another choice that will help us ensure that we are providing the best product we can for each customer. Each one is a beautiful, unique portrait. Each one is priceless to the family who receives it. We hope you understand the need to move forward in this direction.
Leave a Reply
