Untitled

By:By Shana in Washington

"One picture is worth a thousand words." Imagine the stories on each page of a scrapbook! Scrapbooking is often described as a hobby. In fact, it is an art form. Each scrapbooker is a storyteller, a creator of works of art.

There is a picture in one of my mother's photo albums of our nanny holding my baby sister. She gazes lovingly at the infant in her arms, a beautiful smile on her face. I'd like to tell you a story:
The year is 1956. The United States was having a boom time; Germany was devastated by World War II. Huge craters in the middle of towns were evidence of bombing. A 26-year old woman married to an Army Corporal and pregnant with her third child answered her door, her 2-year at her side. Standing before her was a 19-year old young woman badly in need of a bath. The young woman pleaded: "Please take me in. I will clean your house and take good care of your children. There is no work and I am selling myself to Army G.I.s to support my mother and father." The 26-year old was my mother and I was the 2-year old. My parents took in the young woman who came to call them Mom and Dad. She was our nanny for three years and blossomed into a lovely woman. Her love for all of us is expressed in the photo of her holding my younger sister.

I know the story behind the picture because my mother told it to me. Writing the story or journaling alongside the picture allows the richness of the relationships to be shared with those who will not have the opportunity to be told the story. They can still "hear" my mother's words.

Scrapbooking gives a forum for stories to be recorded and passed on. Let the storytelling continue!



Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: Scraps of Life, Scraps of Love, by Jules,Cincinnati, OH