Why scrapbooking is important to me

By:Lynette Aanerud

Long ago (well, more like 1994) there was a young woman (well, youngish) with a decade of photos in a laundry basket, and two little children whose presence meant the laundry basket was filling up faster than ever! Of course, that woman was me. I had known about scrapbooks for a long time, in fact knew about "acid free" and photo corners and safe albums 25 years ago. But now, I was ready to begin in earnest, and to add a bit more "me" in the embellishing.

Like the needlecrafts I've enjoyed my whole life, scrapbooking gives me a great deal of satisfaction. Long ago, someone who knew me well told me the reason I liked to sew was because in my quiet sewing room, I could create a perfect world. Scrapbooks do the same for me. As a mom with a young family, a daily frustration was the fact that nothing I did stayed done! Laundry gets worn, food gets eaten, dishes get used and houses get dirty. Daily, if not hourly. Yet a completed scrapbook page is a thing of beauty forever--at least within the limits of archival standards!

But the scrapbooks I love to create are more meaningful than a quilt, a suit or a country doll I might make...because my pages capture the memories of my family, and make them tangible items for sharing within my family and beyond. Because I have a chronic illness with significant complications, I have little confidence in living to a ripe old age so that I can share the stories orally with my children or grandchildren. But whether or not I am there to enjoy the retelling...I know my children and their children and beyond will be able to enjoy the images and words that fill my scrapbooks.

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: My Grandmother's Scrapbook, by Lynette Aanerud