Printed photos aren't necessarily stable for an indefinite period of time.
Afaik, degradation can be due to residual printing chemicals like fix not having been fully removed from the paper, for example if not washed for long enough after processing.
Making archival prints includes some additional steps to reduce the risk of residual chemicals causing degradation later, but something like a 1hr photo place probably isn't taking those steps.
If you still have the negatives, the best thing to do would just be to get some reprints made from those.
If you want to shoot film, you should look in to darkroom classes. Analog prints are a delightful thing.
Shoot black and white film as a beginner as it is much easier to print.
If you're shooting film and then scanning the negs and making digital prints, you're just doing digital photography with more steps.