Scrapbooks....

I started scrapbooking long ago as a way to preserve memories and stories for my children.   Even though you think you will remember a moment forever, time has a way of changing things.  You may not remember the small details, the date, or your feelings.  Photos came faster than time and scrapbooking was something I thought I would ‘find time for’ one day.  Years have passed and outside of a stray layout here and there, the albums for the elementary years, and David’s Eagle Scout album, my scrapbooks lay untouched.  They scrapping paraphernalia often delegated to school projects.  Many of my photos are in boxes…the last photo album stopped early in 2002.  The last several years are in digital files stored in various places due to my fear of losing those precious memories.  The children are older now the everyday photos have slowed.  I seem to use my phone as much as my camera when I do take a photo.  But alas, Daniel recently became an Eagle Scout and I dug through, pulled out, and had printed many, many scout photos.  Daniel and I spent hours a few nights ago organizing them all (some we just couldn’t).  We played detective—looking for shoulder loops, shoes, bolos—anything that would identify the year.  They are in a basic order….some things surely out of place, but it’s Daniel’s album and he is good with this.  So soon I will start this project hoping to complete it in time for his court of honor.   

While we were going through all the photos, I kept mentioning/looking for a certain pair of shoes Daniel wore for years (that helped and hindered in our process).  I knew I had scrapped the story of those silly shoes and went looking for the layout.  I found it and wound up dragging out just about all the old scrapbooks as Daniel read, relived, and remembered long ago days.  Broke my heart when he turned the last page of the last album and realized there were no more.   You could see the want for more.  I hope no one will ever think that scrapbooks don’t matter.  Putting words and feelings to a photograph can warm the heart, explain a day, capture the essence of a summer, a childhood.  I have thousands of photos I would like to scrapbook…and maybe I will one day.  But journaling without adding in current feelings might be hard.   I wish I had kept a journal.  But I hope I find the time to try….the sake of our memories and for anyone who might enjoy a view into our lives.