The Sum of Our Stories
While listening to the most recent Papperclipping Roundtable I was inspired to send them a comment because I was surprised to find that many of the scrappers on the panel create scrapbook pages for the pictures first and decide upon a story later. I am just the opposite, I write in my journal stories of our life, and some of them inspire me to scrapbook. When I am ready to create a page about this story, I search through my pictures to find the ones that fit my story. This is how my daughters (who were so young when my Dad died, and not even born before my mother passed) know who their grandparents are. My parents are the sum of their stories, and these stories are the legacies that will be passed down. I feel that it is my job to be the historian who documents the lives of my family, both of my childhood and my adulthood.
My most recent example of a story that needed to be documented is my Dad’s t-shirt collection. Silly, right? But very important, if my children are to understand my Dad’s goofy side (one of my favorite parts of Dad).
The journaling reads:
If you have ever wondered anything about my Dad, such as…
-Which sport teams did he support?
-Where did he travel?
-How does he feel in a picture? Patriotic? Playful? Goofy?
Just look at his shirt! The answer is usually right there.
Dad had a huge collection of T-shirts. He bought them everywhere he went and he often bought them for others, as well! He wore his collection proudly every day.
This page is a good example of the lighter side of my Dad, and the girls got a laugh out of it, especially the shirt he is wearing in middle left. Those of you who knew Dad, know that this was one of his favorites!
