Even with a Nikon D300 digital camera by my side and countless compact discs filled with digital photographic files sitting on a nearby bookcase, I got a lump in my throat Thursday when the news hit that Kodak had filed for bankruptcy. The AP story I was reading said the iconic company "could become the most storied casualty of a digital age that has whipped up a maelstrom of economic, social and technological change."

The story quotes Toronto's Ryerson University professor Robert Burley as saying, "Kodak played a role in pretty much everyone's life in the 20th century because it was the company we entrusted our most treasured possession to—our memories." And how true is that?

We all have thousands — if not tens of thousands — of photographs that capture life's moments from our first steps and teeth to milestones like graduations, marriages, the births of our children and their children and even the last days of the lives of loved ones. Some of us are organized and have our snapshots neatly categorized in file boxes or displayed in scrapbooks. Some of us have them heaped in containers with no sense of organization.

I use both systems, depending on how important the photos are.

When I read the article about Kodak's bankruptcy filing, my mind instantly went back to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

I had the good fortune to attend those games from opening to closing ceremonies, and I had planned the trip for several years. To capture every moment possible of what I considered the trip of a lifetime, I took three, 35mm cameras and 100 rolls of Kodak film with me.