A Lifetime of Memories that will live forever

By:Debbie Filer

Have you ever heard the saying, "Everything happens for a reason"? Well I really do believe that everything happens for a reason. About a year ago, I was invited to a scrapbooking party at work. I didn't really know much about it but had nothing better to do so I went. When I got there, there were about 7 ladies that I worked with having such a good time pulling out all their supplies and looking over each others "new buys" that I got caught up in the excitement.

I had brought along the "10 or so pictures" that was required and hadn't really taken much time in picking them out. It was a hodge podge of pictures that really didn't have a theme. Within 10 minutes I had my first scrapbooking page done and was ready for more. Unfortunately, I didn't have any more pictures with me. I bought a few of the items there, my first scrapbook and a few necessary items. I couldn't wait to get home to sort through my years (and years) of pictures. I had two teenage kids and a lifetime of memories to sort through and get the stories down on paper. I always wanted to do more than stick the pictures in a photo album. Where is the story? The explanation of why grandma had flour in her hair, while outside and in the snow?

I knew then I had to get all my memories down and on paper before they faded away. I'm still working on mine stories so that my kids will know them even when I'm gone but my books have taken a back seat for now. Three months ago, my father in law was diagnosed with stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. After several treatments, it has now spread to the liver. My husband, sister-in-law and mother-in-law are devastated. I needed to do something to ease everyones pain and grief but what?

Then one night it came to me. My father in law had once shared a photo album of his trips that he took while working for the Navy. There were so many trips and I could remember how proud and excited he was while telling me the story of each picture as we looked through the book. It saddened me to think that those stories would someday cease to be told by him and the excitement he had while telling the stories would be gone.

So I decided to do a scrapbook with him and let him put the stories down on paper. We have been working together, in secret, so that my husband, sister-in-law and mother-in-law will be surprised. I learned to scrapbook for a reason, to make sure that a Lifetime of Memories will live forever.

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: My poor husband., by Michele R.