Announcing the winners of the Deep Nostalgia™ Challenge!

Our #DeepNostalgiaChallenge kicked off on March 11, and the entries have been pouring in — beautiful photos, breathtaking animations, and fascinating stories. Before we announce our 5 lucky winners, we wanted to show you some of our favorite entries so far.

This one comes to us from Marie:

https://www.facebook.com/marie.wilson.900/posts/2214303268701218

“This is my Grannie, Mary Agnes Hunt,” writes Marie. “A dressmaker born in Dublin in 1891, one of 9 children, she lost her only sister to the Spanish flu in 1918. I think she probably made the clothes she is wearing in the photo and I know she made her sons’ sailor suits in the colourised photo. The baby in the colourised photo is now 98!”

“As someone who is addicted to genealogy,” Marie continues, “I love seeing old family photos transformed. Grannie’s generation seldom smiled in photos because of the long exposure but it’s great that we can see them smiling now.”

We love the four entries below from Aniqua Bishop:

https://www.facebook.com/aniquab/posts/10159322667148522

“I’ve been looking into and tracing all of my family history for years and this is a great way for me to see their faces again,” Aniqua writes. The photos feature her grandmother Rose, “who helped raise me and still watches over me”; her great-great-grandfather, “whose wife was Indian, and as I heard, always looked sharp in his hats”; her uncle Alex, “who was the definition of heart”; and her aunt Dorothy, who died before she was born.

The following entry come to us from Diane Henriks of Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family: Family History and Genealogy. This one is her beautiful great-grandmother:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=435951697633907

Diane writes that her great-grandmother immigrated from Mexico in 1916. “I vaguely remember my great-grandmother from when I was quite young, and this brought back memories of her,” she writes.

This one is from Kira D. Fultz, and features her second cousin twice removed, Fay Naomi Webb:

https://www.facebook.com/30513870/videos/10103809666594706/

“Fay was born to Santa Monica’s police chief, Clarence Webb, in 1907,” writes Kira. “She signed a contract with MGM as an actress on the silver screen and went on to model for many campaign ads.

“This is Fay in her heyday, brought to life by the new Deep Nostalgia tool at MyHeritage. The silver screen really did suit her.”

This one was shared by the Steinman Family genealogy page on Facebook. It features the page administrator’s grandfather, Sam Steinman, while on military leave in 1945:

https://www.facebook.com/286528388353350/videos/145807387399460

“I had never met him, but this helped me feel like I did,” writes the administrator.

These entries are from Bryon Stendahl and feature his younger self and his grandparents:

https://www.facebook.com/Bryanjon/posts/10160467186548132

“I am currently OBSESSED with this AI tech being used on MyHeritage,” writes Bryan. “I never would have imagined for a minute I would see my young self or especially my beautiful grandparents come to life in a time when movie picture creation was not a everyman’s tool.” The photo of himself was taken when he was in the 4th grade, and the photos of his grandparents are from their wedding day. Stunning!

This lovely entry is from of Victoria of Ancestry Hound, featuring her mother, Muriel Rheta MacGregor, nee Moore:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMtyiuAJRFq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This one comes to us from genealogist Cheryl Leigh, and it features her relative Henrietta Bailey:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMYSvEXnNZu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Cheryl writes that she recently came across two old family photos that featured two members of her extended Pennsylvania family wearing the same dress, and one of them was Henrietta, born in 1840. “Now we are able to see our ancestors in a new way,” writes Cheryl. “It’s incredible.”

Chris Paradis posted these 3 photos of his father animated with Deep Nostalgia™:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMek2KdDWav/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Heidi Castrogiovanni-Settimo posted this animation  of her mother on TikTok:

@heidisettimo

Thank you @MyHeritage for letting me see my Mom smile again ❤️ #DeepNostalgiaChallenge

♬ Moonlight Serenade – Glenn Miller

“My beautiful Mom,” writes Heidi. “I haven’t seen her smile since 1992. Seeing this took my breath away. Thank you MyHeritage for not only making her smile again, but making me smile too…”

This one comes to us from Sebasti Eng. He animated a photo of his grandmother and showed it to his mother, and this was her reaction:

@sebastieng

me dijo “me hiciste el día ❤️” #parati #myheritage #deepnostalgiachallenge #mamá #lentejas

♬ record before u listen – penny lane

He says his mother told him that it “made her day.” Seeing her emotional reaction made our day, too.

She writes that her maternal grandmother passed away when her mom was only 5, and her great-aunts stepped in to raise her and her sister. The great-aunt who took her in passed away when this user was 9 years old, “but she was the BEST abuelita.” The other great-aunt “was of great help to my abuelita with my mom and aunt,” and she passed away two years ago. “I know her sisters gave her the best welcome in Heaven,” writes the user.

So many amazing people and beautiful stories. We can’t get enough of your entries! 

Drumroll Please

And now for the moment you have all been waiting for! The 5 winners of the MyHeritage Complete Plan are…. Cheryl Leigh, Bryan Stendahl, Joseph Triden, Diane Henriks, and Heidi Castrogiovanni-Settimo! Congratulations and thank you to everyone who participated in the #deepnostalgiachallenge!

If you haven’t yet tried MyHeritage’s sensational Deep Nostalgia™ feature, now is your chance! Visit myheritage.com/deep-nostalgia and bring your family photos to life!