As excited as I am about the weekend the realization of what this weekend means is truly setting in. I'm very aware that the baton is being passed to us. My dad's cousin, Gwenny, is now the eldest relative at 80 something, his cousin, Max, is #2 and then my lovely auntie Jan (my dad's sister) is next in line and she's in her late 70's. Finally, my dad who is 72 and then the next generation. Crazy to think how quickly time flies.
Anyway, with this weekend we've been asked to bring three things that will tell something about ourselves. One of those things is to be an heirloom so I'm taking my Nana's diary (I think). I have a few other things I could take but think this will be the best and will give everyone an idea of who Nana was. I am also going to take familyroom stuff and photos of my family which is where the scrap booking nightmare comes in.
Whilst looking for photos I've realised that all of my photos are on my computer ~ well most of them anyway. I've realised that my children have no photo albums to gaze through. Their story and pages of history are all filed neatly on my desktop. Not good! This is something I know I need to address. Will I ever become a scrap booker......NO! I love all the amazing albums passionate scrap bookers have and I secretly covet their ability, time spent and obvious passion. However I am generally left feeling like a crappy parent because my kids, as I said, are neatly filed in iphoto.....thank God for Apple!
I say all of this to kick myself in the backside. Albums are a necessity, kids need history, they need to see, they need to sit cuddled up on the couch and wander through pages of life and so do we. I do have my wedding album and a few others around the house that I have managed to put together and I do admit I love to look and remember.
This weekend I know I will be reminded of how important our family stories are. My aunt will come armed with every letter, picture, baptism certificate, etc., of our dear grandmother and grandfather. She will know the story from Scotland to Canada like the back of her hand, she will know the names of all our relatives and she will neatly sew together the fabric of who we are as FAMILY. I can't wait!
My daughter and I have decided that together, we will do our albums. We will bring expression to our journey so in years to come Korea to Canada will make sense and will be remembered.
Susan J Sohn
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2 comments:
Hi Susan,
Great post! I had to giggle when I read the bit about scrapbooking - for me, that is one of the top ten most relaxing things to do on the planet! The fact that it creates a family heirloom is an added bonus and justification.
I'm sure it's not for everyone though. Have you seen those coffee table books you can put together through iPhoto. You just choose and arrange your pics into templates, then send them off to Apple and they deliver back a beautiful, bound hardback book to keep forever.
Happy scrapping!
Deborah
Hi Susan,
Great message. My youngest son had to take a baby picture to kindergarten last week and we had such fun finding a photo. Our other children then searched through the piles to find shots of them and proudly took them to school to show their friends.
You are right- photo albums are an essential ingredient to knowing where we come from.
Annie.
P.S scrapbooking is up there with a trip to the dentist on my list of fears. It is an amazing hobby though and I love what you clever people out there can do xx
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