Last week my Grandma turned 88. I thought about her all week long and decided to do a quick layout with some of the My Mind's Eye papers that we have in the "heritage" section of the store. The papers are all really muted, which work really well with the vintage photo from circa 1940. My one frustration is that I wanted to include a lot more journaling than I could fit onto the layout. So, I posted this layout and a long story on my blog. I plan to print the blog entry and include it in the album behind the layout. This is my new favorite solution to getting stories into my albums that may not fit onto the layouts that I create to satisfy an artistic craving. Don't let the urge to create something for fun or to scratch a creative itch keep you from recording the stories you want to record. Just put them behind the layout!
Anyway, here's the layout and the journaling from my personal blog:
In honor of my Grandma's birthday I created this layout, which features a photo of her upon her high school graduation, I believe. Anyway, it's her in her youth, before she began the rest of her life. Little did she know how many lives she'd touch with her kind heart, her nurturing spirit and her sharp wit. In the layout I describe a situation that just came back to my memory for some reason. I was in junior high or early high school. For some reason, my Grandma was at our house. She may have been staying with us because our parents were away. I'm not sure. I remember standing on the step going down into our "new" room, the family room. I read a letter from my friend, Heti, who was away in a hospital for girls with anorexia. I wasn't sure how to handle the situation and was upset because I felt helpless. Grandma said, in a reasonable way, something to the effect of "The best thing to do in these situations is to write a letter or send a card, so she knows you care. And, if she needs more, she'll let you know." I'm sure at the time I listened and went about with my life, but now, looking back, I realize how right that advice is in so many situations. Just let them know you care. That's exactly how she has lived her life. She always wanted to know what was going on in your life. For years and years, when I was at college and after I moved here, my grandparents would call me every year on my birthday. Sometimes I dreaded the conversation, because I never really knew what to say. I'd give anything for that phone call right now. Or, even better, to go back to Florida to visit them. I'd even put up with my Grandpa hounding me to death...."Why aren't you taking any business classes? What are you going to do with a degree in English Literature?"...just to hear my Grandma say, "Now, Herb, leave her alone. She's going to do fine for herself." Can't you just hear it? "Now, Herb." I can. I'm one of the few lucky people (I've come to realize) who grew up in the same town as all four of their grandparents. I grew to know each and every one of them into my adulthood, they all taught me so much. But, my Grandma Schlater taught me how important it is to think of the other person, to show that you care, even in little ways like sending a card, or buying a little trinket you know they'd love. One time, when Nora was a baby she bought a big basket of scrapbooking items at an auction in Milwaukee, because she knew we were coming to visit and that I enjoyed scrapbooking. When they were cleaning out her house so that she could move into Dorothy Love, they got to the part of the kitchen that housed the liquor. You can be sure there was no Crown Royal left, because if you're a Schlater, you drink Crown Royal. But, Grandma, she drank scotch. So, there was some scotch in there, and she said to my Dad, "Ken, you make sure that Rick gets that bottle of scotch. I know he likes it." This was after the Alzheimers set in. She still has that outward looking interest in other people, what they love, who they are. I am truly blessed to have grown up in her presence and to feel it daily as I work on documenting and preserving the photos and words of her life. Happy Birthday, dear, sweet lady.
What stories have you been putting off telling? I challenge you to write just one of them down and then create a layout to celebrate!
Check back next week for a blog challenge related to inspiration and journaling! Get ready to do some creating and posting the layouts. We will choose one comment at random for a blog candy prize!
Happy Scrapping!
Angie
