I feel the same way about the LJ/DW differences and communities, and as soon as I have a chance, I'm planning to fix my cross-posting parameters to allow comments on the LJ side, because I find I really do miss the community there.

I'm less worried than you are about Our Google Overlords (in fact, "I, for one, welcome..." etc.) because I made a personal decision to be less private. Also, I'm irresistibly attracted to new technology, and have been all my life. It's not gonna change, so I decided (after reading Jeff Jarvis's Public Parts, not to fight it.

Your family-documentation project sounds wonderful. Will you image-scan some of the letters, too? Handwriting itself will become a thing of the past soon, too.