My Aunt lost her home during hurricane Katrina's wrath. It was not so bad that her items were gone, but her home was flooded too - from the bottom to the top of the second story. In addition to the emotional devastation and loss of her home, her papers, books, and photos were damaged beyond repair. Like most people, my Aunt had tons of photo albums documenting her family, life, and events that mattered to her. I remember her sitting on our couch, crying and saying she could withstand the loss of her home if only she could have her pictures back. That's how she cherishes these memorabilia.

Being the dutiful niece that I am, I started researching on how to save her precious photos. Was it possible to restore her pictures? I didn't know then. My Aunt helped my parents raise me and she was always there when I needed something. Hence, I wanted to give her something in return. Perhaps, saving her collection would make her smile after the disastrous hurricane.

When I finally had the opportunity, I went to her home in New Orleans. She had not been back and was trying to make a life for herself in Chicago. All of her things were still at the house although water left almost everything beyond repair. I boxed up as much of her pictures as I could find and had them shipped back to my house in California.

I had found a company that specializes in restoring water damaged photos. The process starts with air drying and dehumidification. I ran clothes lines through my back yard under the porch and tacked all the pictures up to dry them. Once they were dry, I packed them back up and took them to a company who does document freeze drying.

In a document freeze drying method, they basically freeze out any excess moisture by making the photos so cold. Any water left is vaporized. I won't lie, it had cost a small fortune having all those pictures undergo thorough document freeze drying. It can be the most expensive way to restore documents, but it is also the best.

In addition to almost completely restoring the pictures, the owner of the company I hired to facilitate document freeze drying went a step further (I think it was my sob story!) and had his crew organize the photos, cover them in a plastic material that is like cellophane and put them back into photo albums. It was neatly done and I was sure my Aunt would really love it.

When the document freeze drying process was complete and I had my Aunt's collection again, I took them to her. Her reaction and happiness was unimaginable and the boost it gave her while starting over was worth every penny I paid for document freeze drying. I never even thought about the expenses when I saw my Aunt smiled for the first time after the disaster.

I would highly recommend document freeze drying to anyone who has irreplaceable belongings damaged by water or fire.