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By:Shirley, St. Augustine, Florida

I had slept badly. To make matters worse, Monday dawned gray and drizzly. Fortunately, it was my day off - a perfect day for staying snuggled in bed, right? Why, then did I eagerly jump out of bed at 6:00 PM? You guessed it. My scrapbook was calling my name, and like the children who followed the Pied Piper, I had to answer that call. The next thing I knew, it was time to start dinner. Had I “wasted” the entire day totally engrossed in my hobby of scrapbooking? Hardly!

You see, that’s why scrapbooking is important. Some hobbies produce nothing to show for the time spent. With scrapbooking I am creating a safe haven for precious memories. All those priceless pictures that previously dwelled in dangerous albums or languished unappreciated in shoeboxes, are being transformed into works of art that will tell the story of our family and friends in a beautiful and entertaining way for generations.

The journalizing that I’m including as an integral part of each album gives life to the pictures. Photos, previously identified dryly by names, places, and dates, now tell lively stories about the individuals and events. I can also include mementos, such as newspaper articles, concert tickets, tour brochures, locks of baby hair, greeting cards from special bouquets, even sand from a beach, which will add dimension to our memories. Future generations will be able to “feel the emotions” generated by a well-done scrapbook page.

The record I’m creating is more than a family tree, more than a journal, more than a photo album; it’s all three, combined into one exciting family epic. As our society becomes more and more automated, I think it’s extremely important to create a “touchable” written record so our descendents will be able to sit together and lovingly turn the pages and feel the weight of their family’s history. What an important gift to them this will be.

I love scrapbooking! It gives me a feeling of accomplishment, and it brings pleasure to others. I recently created a very special scrapbook for a dear friend. I loved making each page a representation of something very precious to him, and his intense emotional reaction surprised and delighted me because I knew I had given him something he will treasure forever. As he put it, he knows it was, “a gift from the heart and such gifts are valuable beyond measure.”

The act of selecting the pictures, mementos and enhancements for each page lets me re-live a particular occasion. When all the elements are combined to re-create the moment, that occasion literally becomes frozen in time, there to re-live as often as I wish. I love the permanence of it.

I love the way scrapbooking gives me the opportunity to learn more about my ancestors. As I prepare to do a heritage album, my ninety-year-old mother and I are presently going through boxes of old, old pictures of people I didn’t even know. But as she recalls them and describes them to me, they come alive. We laugh together; she struggles to recall details and cries over lost loved ones. We grow closer, and I understand my heritage better. Armed with these tools, I will make an album through which my mother’s great-great grandchildren will hear her words and glimpse her character as well as see her picture.

I love indulging in the “escape” scrapbooking offers me. As I choose, and crop, and putter and play, I forget life’s current stresses and worries. Regardless of how uptight I may have been before creeping away to my cropping corner, I find myself relaxing. Ah, yes, this is what is meant by a “Calgon Take Me Away Moment!”

Scrapbooking has changed my life. I now have a relaxing, worthwhile hobby that enables me to create something tangible and valuable. Through attending “crops” I now enjoy an occasional “girls’ night out” with new friends who share a common interest. But best of all, the old sayings, "memories fade" and "you only live once" are no longer true in my life. I’m creating memories that will remain vivid and can be recalled over and over simply by opening my scrapbooks! What a blessing!

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: Ode to Scrapbooking, by Susan B.