Why I scrapbook

I have been scrapbooking for years. In fact, 13 years if you want me to be more precise. I love it; I really do. I started just after we got married and I have no intention of stopping. I love to look at the photos we have taken over the years, to remember the good times we have had together with family and friends and to read the stories I have written in our albums so they won't fade (as my memory surely will). I love to sit and create my album pages, be it traditional (cut and paste) or digital. It is a relaxing and creative outlet. But that is not why I scrapbook.

I scrapbook for these gorgeous girls of mine. I want them to remember the fun we have had while they were little. There will be many of the things we have done together that they were too little to remember but they will be able to see it in their albums. I want them to know how much they are loved. How much we enjoy their company. The things we notice about their personalities. The record of the funny things they have said. And it gives me no greater joy than to see them turning the pages of their albums and seeing all this for themselves.

When Megan (my firstborn) was just 14 months old, (and I was 28) I was diagnosed with a heart condition. I was 3 months pregnant with Alison at the time. After seeing a specialist cardiologist, I decided that rather than be on medication for the rest of my life, I would have heart surgery to try to eliminate the faulty circuits. This couldn't be done while I was pregnant, so we set the date for 10 weeks after Ali was born. While the surgery was fairly straight forward (for a cardiac surgeoun I guess) I still had to be made aware of all the potential risks and it was a long list. I am an optomist so I tried not to worry about it but the thought did cross my mind that if something was to happen to me, my toddler and my baby would grow up without their mum. Without knowing how precious they were to me. Without knowing all my dreams for them. So I spent every minute I could with them and when they were sleeping, I scrapbooked like a maniac to make sure their albums and their stories (especially of Ali's birth) were up to date.

My surgery was a success and 8 years later (and 2 more gorgeous girls), I still try to keep their albums up to date for the same reason. No one knows how much time they will have on this earth. If something happens to me, I want them to know they are truely loved. I want them to hear my voice in the stories that are written in their albums. Hear it in the Life Lessons pages I have made for them. To know what I thought about different things. It won't matter to them whether I was up to date with the latest season of Glee or Castle but I hope that these albums will be something they will treasure so it is where I spend my time. Life is short. Treasure every minute. xx