We all have a family suitcase, whether in physical or abstract form. It could be a real suitcase, or a box, binder, a file folder, or several pieces of documents scattered in various containers: Any type of storage vessel that holds the faded pictures and documents of ancestors that we never met.

There comes a time, though, when we need to unpack that suitcase—reveal its contents and piece together a story of the past as a gift to the present.

For those with World War II ancestors in their bloodline, we know that time is slipping. According to Pew Research, an estimated 300,000 WWII survivors remain. With their ranks dwindling each day, their stories are at risk of disappearing as well. All too often, we delegate the task of bringing the past to light to researchers and historians, but within the walls of the suitcase lies two truths, one seen and the other unseen:

1.  Historical documents in your possession

2.  Your emotional attachment to these documents

Put these together, and you will find that you have the force to begin putting things in motion — to bring the past to the present.

The below image is my family suitcase, which houses hundreds of letters that my grandfather sent to my grandmother during World War II. They are the last thoughts and remnants of a man whose life was tragically taken on June 10, 1944, four days after the D-Day landings. They are mementos and keepsakes of a grandfather I never met.

I started to unpack this suitcase when I was 16 years old and am still in the process of unpacking my grandfather's final days. The contents inside this suitcase have brought great meaning to myself, my siblings, and my father, his only son.

If you are reading this now and have a family member who served or was killed in World War II, here are three ways you can start unpacking your suitcase. They are lessons learned from my own story and fueled by familiar tips a traveler uses to unpack a suitcase after a long trip to a far-off destination:

1. Take Everything Out

Spill everything onto the floor and begin sorting like items into groups. If you have multiple containers acquired throughout the years, try bringing them all into one room.

When we start bringing the items out of the darkness of a container and into the light, the contents become visible, tangible, and real: something that is hard to ignore.

Some items you may consider sorting into groups:

• War medals, ribbons, commendations
• Souvenirs
• Written letters and V-mails
• Government documents and telegrams
• Pictures

2. Start Cleaning

Just like dirty laundry that you take out of a suitcase and clean after a long trip, begin dusting off and cleaning the items that you have taken out of the suitcase:

• Protect faded documents in new casing such as clear plastic sleeves organized in a binder.
• Consider scanning and digitizing letters to protect them from disintegrating. Mobile app scanners, such as Adobe Scan, can help expedite the process without damaging the delicate folds of the letters.
• Digitally restore and retouch photos with your favorite photo editing software or bring them to a local professional photo restoration business.
• Clean medals properly before moving them to storage. Medals of America provides a helpful guide on how to properly care for medals.
• Discard any tattered albums and place them in newly created, modern ones. Check out this Ancestry blog for more creative ideas on preservation techniques.

3. Put Items on Display

When we travel, we often preserve our greatest memories in photo albums, slideshows, or movies. To honor our ancestors and to bring them closer to our presents lives, it's important not to just shove these newly cleaned and organized documents back into the suitcase.

We must treat the contents of the suitcase as a living library instead of a vessel beholden to the past.

Find creative ways to put your ancestors on display:

• Place medals and pictures in a shadow box or display case and hang it up on the walls of your office or home.
• Create a history library at home with military history books, photo albums, and scrapbooks filling a bookcase.
• Organize all letters chronologically and put them in a binder or create a book to distribute to family members.