I’m reminded of the time several years ago when my scrapbooking buddies and I were trekking from Virginia to New Jersey to attend a scrapbooking expo. Now, there’s a lot of difference in the fast paced, gotta-get-there-NOW Jersey driving style and the more laid back, slower-paced, I’ll-get-there-when-I-get-there Virginia driving style. No sooner had we arrived in the Garden State than our rental SUV was rear-ended by a local as she was attempting to save her purse from flying off of the front seat. Per the direction of New Jersey’s finest, we all pulled into a grocery store parking lot to exchange information and complete the officer’s report. At this point, most people would be upset or angry. But scrapbookers aren’t necessarily “most people”. The five of us peeled ourselves out of the SUV with cameras in hand and started snapping pictures. Pictures of the rental SUV bumper and its broken reflector. Pictures of the other vehicle which didn’t fare too well. Pictures of the “Welcome to Jersey” sign. Pictures with the police officer. We even made sure that each one of us had a piece of the broken reflector as memorabilia to include in our layout. After the business of the accident was complete we headed to the Expo and shopped for the perfect embellishments to complement our new material.
There’s also the time where our group went to the mountains for an annual weekend retreat. We took a break from scrapbooking to go to the various overlooks for scenic pictures. A nice samaritan offered to take a group picture of us and looked really puzzled as we handed him ten different cameras. He may think twice about offering photographic goodwill in the future.
I am the mom of three boys, four if you count the husband, which I do. Needless to say, we’ve had our share of trips to the emergency room over the years. As all self-respecting scrapbookers do, I carry a small camera in my purse at all times. This comes in handy for impromptu memory gathering such as that which occurs on visits to the hospital. I have sufficiently recorded every visit complete with appropriate diecuts, stickers and even memorabilia, such as hospital arm bands. Most recently my husband fell fourteen feet while on a ladder. Once I knew he was ok, I whipped out the camera and took some pictures of him laid out on the back board, as well as, pictures of his badly sprained ankles and bruised calves. After all, it’s important to record moments like this so we can remind our loved ones of some of the not-so-smart moments…such as climbing an extension ladder which was secured only by a throw rug. Really? Those are moments that our kids, their kids, and so on need to learn from.
Tomorrow, my eight year old returns from his first sleep away camp. This camp has a service where they take lots of photographs of kids throughout the week and place them on their website for purchase. It’s a really good idea and one that I jumped on. Confession is good for the soul and I must confess that I did consider contacting the photographer to “direct” him on the photos I would like for him to take of my child. Basically, I wish he’d just follow him around and snap endless pictures so I’d have a great assortment for crafting the perfect pages to commemorate this rite of passage. I don’t have a lot of restraint when it comes to things like this but I’m proud to report that I did control the urge to make a fool out of myself and embarrass my young son!
My name is Jodie, and I’m a scrapbooker. Scrapbooking has taught me to extract what is memorable from every experience and to tell the stories of our lives that can be passed down from generation to generation. If my actions appear nutty at times, if I whip my camera out at what seems like an odd time, or if I simply get in your way as I try to capture the perfect shot, please chalk it up to passion! Passion for wanting to preserve those fleeting moments that you only get once. Passion to capture my children doing the things that children do because that time period passes in the blink of an eye. Passion for protecting what has sentimental value. Passion for living a life that memories are made of.
1 comment:
I'll make a deal with you...when we cruise - I'll take tons of pics and you take tons of pics and then we'll trade so we actually have pics of ourselves for a change!
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