Why do I love Scrapbooking

By:Cie, Pleasanton, CA

Why I love scrapbooking
By Cie Probst

I first was introduced to scrapbooking when I signed on for an adult ed. class in April of 1996. Every year, since my children had been born, I had made "organizing my photos" a yearly goal, so when the flyer for the class arrived in January, I signed up.

At the class I learned about photo safety issues and realized that the few photos I had in albums would be destroyed soon. Sure enough, that night I pulled my albums and saw the beginning of the damage to my photos.

At the class I purchased an album and some basic supplies and went home inspired to get my photos done. First of all, I had to organize them. That took several weeks, as I kept finding more "stashes" of photos everywhere - in bags, drawers, cartons, in the garage, closets, office drawers, etc. It seemed overwhelming at first. But I purchased some clear containers and armed with sticky notes and pens, I started the arduous process of first, containing all the photos in one central area; then, whenever I had a little time during the evenings or when my youngest son was napping, starting to group photos by years, then seasons and months, all the while labeling everything. This process gave me the momentum to then begin working on my current photos. I started with my youngest son, a six-month old baby at the time. While I was working on his birth shorts and first days and weeks, I was mindful to take more pictures to continue the process.

So, so far the introduction of this hobby had brought about two changes in my life: for the first time ever, I was sure of where all of our photos were, so, in case of rapid evacuation, I'd know what to grab to save them. Also, I actually had begun the process of "organizing my photos" and had started a scrapbook for at least one child.

The next step was nothing short of exhilarating: I started, slowly but surely, to change the way I photographed my family and the events that were shaping our lives and our relationships. I went from boring shots where you could hardly identify anyone to crisp and brilliant close-ups of those lovely faces. When in the past I barely remembered to take photos of "important events" like birthdays and holidays, now I was taking "everyday" shots of us doing everyday living activities and more importantly, I started to focus on taking photos reflective of the relationships we share. So, I have many a shot of my young children reading to each other, playing with each other, comforting each other or just holding hands while walking to school. I believe it will be these types of photos that will be the glue that will keep my family together no matter what the future brings. When I see these "still moments", and later on, when my grown children see them, they will be the way they remember their childhood - one of rich and warm relationships with each other - one where they openly liked and loved each other and one where open affection and fun and comfort during hard times was faced together as a unit! I can see a time in my children's life when they might go through an "alienation" process and might start to feel disconnected with their parents and even their siblings. It is my hope and almost belief that if and when those time come, they'll get a strong reminder of our values and our love for each other by looking at their photos and their lives reflected in these scrapbooks I am now piecing together.

Finally, another reason I "do scrapbooks" is that I have always been a "pack-rat". I love to hold on to everything that is sweet and loving, and time seems to go by so fast to someone like me. But by first working on my family's photos and secondly, by being able to look back to those precious moments of every day living, I can relive them so easily, I can really savoir time and moments and memories with great relish. Scrapbooking lets me "hold on to time" a little longer, and what mother does not want to hold on to time as she watches her babies grow and transform from sweet cuddly babies to grown man and women?


Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: Untitled, by Betty S