Scrapbook a Moment

I’m knee deep in arranging my folk’s 50th wedding anniversary scrapbook and…I love every minute of it! You thought I was going to say I was pulling my hair out? When I volunteered for the task I considered that outcome myself, but I was wrong. Scrap booking is now, officially, my favorite past-time.

With the proliferation of digital cameras, taking the pictures is not a problem. We don’t think twice about snapping off dozen’s of them at every road-side stop or family event. We do most of our editing right on the unit – no need to develop bad shots. We end up with umpteen saved images on our computers and not enough hard copy in our hands. Let me try to convince you that the outcome to get those onto paper is worth the effort.

For an endeavor as important as preserving and staging our parent’s life in print, it does take a lot of work; gathering pictures, emailing relatives for information, (what did we do before email?), and grouping layouts. A casual album wouldn’t take a fraction of the time.

Scrap-booking can be as easy or as complex as you want to make it. From software that will produce a digital lay-out, to intricate hand-laid pages of texture, layers, and color. For my wedding album I recycled wedding cards and they proved to make perfect borders and backgrounds. For my parent’s project, I don’t have cards from the event to leverage so I bought a number of supplies in the same color and theme. Consequently, I can knock out a page in less than 5 minutes, which gives me more time to get lost in the moment with my medium.

The most fun I’ve had during this project is sorting through the photos. Perusing my Mom and Dad’s grade school photographs and placing them side by side chronologically, and ogling their snap-shots of premarital shenanigans has proven to be hours of entertainment.

I have had the golden opportunity to meet my folks at a different time in their lives. A time before they knew me, and a time before even they knew there would be a ‘they’. I’ve held each exposure in my hand and considered it carefully; examining every detail trying to build the story in my mind. What was Daddy thinking in this picture – leaning against this 1955 Buick with his arms crossed, his eye-brow lifted, a smile, no - a smirk, sneaking across his face? Was this handsome devil thinking, “That is one Hot Babe taking my picture!”? Hey! That’s my mother you’re talking about!

My Mom stars in the prize picture of the bunch. This 18 year old woman was obviously in love with someone, and the lucky son-of-a-gun proved to be my Dad. She had this look on her face like she could devour the guy holding the camera. A cross between Jane Fonda, in ‘Barbarella’, and Marilyn Monroe in ‘The Misfits’: gorgeous, courageous, passionate, and way ahead of her time. It appeared as if someone had asked, “Hey, Charlene, are you in love with Bobby Gene?”, and the look in her eyes shouted back, “with all of me and then some, Baby!”

I would have never met the woman in that picture had I not taken the time to introduce myself. The memories they recorded are now mine to share. Can you think of a better way to spend some time? Go relive an instant. Go revive a memory. Go scrapbook a moment.