Heritage Scrapping

In one of my heritage layouts, I say that my family is made up of storytellers. Story telling is something we do every time we get together. Daddy will always start to tell me a story, and Mother will say, "She's heard that a hundred times!"

Lately, I've been calling him, and when he starts to tell me a story, I'll pop open a notepad on the computer, and start typing in his story as he tells it. I know there are details I'll forget, and I want to get those stories on paper for future generations.

Genealogy is one of my greatest loves. I love finding history in MY history. I want to know the stories behind the names and dates. I want to know what happened in the dash. Linda Ellis wrote a poem called "The Dash" that begins this way...

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend

He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end

He noted that first came her date of her birth
And spoke the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth.

And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

You can read the full text of the poem here.

So anyway, I'm beginning to realize that my job as one of the people charged with preserving our family pictures and stories is to learn all I can about those dashes and get those stories recorded. The best way I have found to do this is by scrapbooking heritage albums.

Last week, my cousin (and fellow genealogist and story keeper), JC, emailed me and said that one of our Dads' cousins was turning 85 and her family was having her a big birthday party. He asked if I could help out by putting together a scrapbook album telling her life story. Of course when someone starts a sentence, "Could you make a scrapbook..." the answer will 9 times out of 10 be "YES!".

JC went over to her house to interview her, wrote up her story and emailed it to me, along with scans of several pictures he got from her. Her daughter also emailed me pictures that she had, so I set to work. I had enough to get started by Tuesday or Wednesday, and the party was Saturday afternoon, so I had 3 or 4 days to scrap 85 years of Millie's life!

I emailed the last page to JC and Millie's daughter, Linda, at 5:00 am Saturday morning and then went to bed for a couple hours. JC got two copies of all 26 pages printed out and put into albums and Linda put them all in a power point presentation which she then presented at the party with over 100 attendees. Millie was thrilled and now we have those stories preserved. There are two paper copies in albums and Linda also has the .jpg images of the pages saved on CD for anyone else who wants a copy.

JC started this idea when his Dad (my Dad's brother) was diagnosed with alzheimers. His care providers told JC that a book about his life with pictures would help him with his memory. Even as he remembered less and less of the present, he would sit and look at his book and remember more of his past. When he passed away last Summer, JC presented the story of his life at his memorial service and it was such a beautiful way to honor his memory.

I plan to put together a book for my Dad to give him for his birthday in April. I made one for my Mom when she turned 70, but that was before I started scrapping digitally, so it was a LOT more work! :)

The cover page (as we have done with the others) will say "This is your life" (based on the old TV show). The outline starts with the person's birth and then covers major events in their life, ending with photos of their family, grandchildren, etc. It is such a neat thing to make and makes a wonderful gift for someone you love.

I was so excited to find a new website devoted entirely to Heritage Scrap. I hung out there this weekend and picked up some heritage kits. Here is a page I did with one of them. You can see my gallery at Heritage Scrap by clicking here. (Though it is just getting started. My other heritage pages are at Digital Scrapbook Place.)

The journaling on this page about my Mamaw's Calling Cards says: When Grace was a girl, she collected Victorian calling cards that had probably been her mother's. They hung in a frame in the room I slept in when I visited them as a girl. When she died, I asked for the framed cards and they now proudly hang in my home. One day, I carefully took them out of the frame and opened them. I was surprised to find names of friends and relatives who had come to call. What a blessing to have this piece of family history!

I look forward to doing many more Heritage Scrap pages!