Melanie James loves using new technology to help preserve old memories.  James, a San Ramon resident, has created her own home-operated small business, Mel's Makin' Memories!  She has been into photography since her grandfather gave her a camera when she was in grade school, but she only started the business a couple of years ago.

 

Mel's Makin' Memories! specializes in creating photographic DVD collages and albums using still photos, video clips and music along with graphics. James started the business after moving to Pleasanton from New York.

She had documented her own mother's struggle with leukemia and realized how much she and her sister cherished the photographs that captured special moments.  "I just feel like if you capture a moment in a time where you can't ever get that moment back ... you can remember that day as if it was yesterday," James said.

Mel's Makin' Memories! keeps her busy, but James also has a 2- year-old and 4-year-old and is a registered nurse at John Muir Medical Center in Concord.  Her work as a nurse in the stroke and post-open-heart unit inspired her to focus some of her business on nursing homes and senior citizens.  She will often work with families to collect pictures from throughout a person's lifetime to put into a video collage for everyone to see.