I Have the Time

By:julie, mom of 3 DDs

My love for scrapping began as an early child, with my three brothers, when my mother would encourage us "draw" stories about daily events. It was in those early years that I began recording my "memories". By the time I was in high school I began my own crude form of a scrapbook. It was in this book that I recorded some of my most fond times and even a few of the "hard" times in my young life.

When I finally married and quickly became a mother to a precious baby girl, I dreamed of one day handing her a record of her life. Therefore, I began a more formal scrapbook for my sweet daughter. As days of rocking a newborn quickly turned into weeks of chasing a toddler, my wonderful intentions of keeping up with her scrapbook were turned into a series of famous lines...."I'll do it when I have more time."

Reality hit hard for me when I lost my baby brother, Matt (age 19), to a car accident. When I talked to my daughter about Uncle Matt, I realized that she remembered only those times that we had documented in family albums and scrapbooks. A new fire was lit under me to return to my love of scrapbooking, but then I quickly had two more sweet daughters in two years...life was busy. I did well to make photos of my family and friends, but as far as journaling and scrapbooking, I once again said , "I'll do it when I have more time."

One day I brought my own photo albums and scrapbooks out of storage, I saw that something had destroyed some of photos and pages. It was then that I first learned about acid and lignin. As a stay at home mom, I was discouraged about using "proper" products due to costs...until last year. I was in my doctor's office when he brought up a word that has affected me more than any other word that I have heard in all 30 years of my life...cancer. My priorities suddenly changed. I began thinking about what my daughters would remember about me and their lives if something should happen to Mommy. It was then that I returned to my first love of scrapbooking, this time, properly informed. We have often turned to cheaper meals (like hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches) to be able to purchase supplies for our memory albums. To save money, I also began to journal instead of taking tons of photos of one event. This became a blessing in disguise of course.

Although my cancer seems to be treatable, I pray I will never make the mistake of saying, "when I have more time". I struggle to discipline myself, however to make time for making memories as we as preserving them. The number of punches I own is far less important than the number of memories we have created. No greater gift could I give my family than a record of memories that are both of fun times and times that were often difficult. Looking back, I know my daughters will not remember a few extra hot dog meals or a dirty bathroom, but precious family times. I do hope that they will say, "Mom made sure that we had the time."

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: A Living Legacy, by by T Brown, Cheyenne WY