Becoming One of the Family

By:Sherry J.

For my mother-in-laws 90th birthday, I made her a heritage album. The title page included a photograph of her at three months, encompassed her whole life and concluded with her 90th birthday party. This was in June of 2001. She passed away unexpected September 12th, 2001, one day after the WTC.

My first surpirse was arriving at the funeral home to find my scrapbook on display beside the guest book.The book was surrounded by relatives the entire evening as they reminisced about days gone by. My husband comes from a large family of eight children. My in-laws are wonderful people and I have never encountered any negativity or dyfunctionality that goes on in so many families. They are a very close-knit, supportive family.

Even after her death, there was no bickering over personal belongings, money or any of the other things that happen so often. The only question was "Who is going to get the scrapbook?" Up until that point, I hadn't really realized how well-received and important that scrapbook was to my in-laws. All five of the the sisters came to me and ask if I would like to have it back. I expressed my desire that the oldest sister in the family should have it, but she felt that I should have it to pass on to my children. She came up with a comprimise that each family would keep it for approximately six months with it eventually returning to me, which seemed to satisfy everyone.

I have to admit, I felt very humbled and proud to know that something I had done as a simple birthday gift meant so much to an entire family and it erased any doubts I had about being appreciated and considered part of the family.

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: I love to scrapbook..here's why, by Cheryl R.