Memory Keeper

If I am the self-proclaimed Memory Keeper, how then does it take forever to locate an album of pictures?  Now granted I was looking for pictures from 35+ years ago.  In the conglomeration of pictures, albums, scrapbook supplies & tools, other memorabilia and such, it’s no wonder I couldn’t locate them easily.  Oh my, I need to get this in better order.  I did find the album.

While looking through the album I am sorry to say that I can’t remember some of the names of some of the people.   Names you never thought you would forget and 35+ years later, gone.  How can this be?  How could I forget?  I wish I had journaling to go along with the pictures.  Perhaps in a box in the attic I have some letters or something.   And that is a sad fact for someone that claims to be a Memory Keeper.

Do you journal? 

I wish I were better at it or better said more consistent.  I go through times that I’ll journal and then times I don’t.  But consistent – nope!

And there are so many different types of journaling.  Too many choices overwhelm me.  There’s

• ·         A diary
• ·         Art journal
• ·         Faith journal
• ·         Scrapbooking
• ·         Prayer journal
• ·         Scripture journal
• ·         Bible study journal
• ·         Lined journal or blank pages
• ·         Project journal
• ·         Goals journal
• ·         Collection of letters
• ·         On the computer, blog, handwritten
• ·         And the list goes on and on 

After Kathleen was born for several months on the 12^th of each month (she was born on the 12^th) I took her picture and wrote a synopsis of her month.  I still have those and wish I had kept it up and started it with Daniel & Charlsley too.  I need to put the ones I do have in an album.  Right now they’re on yellow folded sheets of paper tucked in a box.  Not good says the Memory Keeper.  Can you imagine how precious that would be if I had kept it up?  I would have 295 entries for Kathleen. 

Life got busy and well I missed a month, and suddenly I haven’t done it perfectly so I stopped.  I need to give up the idea that I have to either do it perfectly or not at all.

We got our first family computer several months after Charlsley was born.  Well I say our first computer but we actually had one before that was an old work computer that I called TRex because it was a dinosaur even then.  It had a 20 megabyte hard drive.  And Jay had a MacIntosh while he was in Seminary.  But anyway we got our first real family computer in 1997.  At that time we had Juno free email.  Each night I would email Bonnie about the events of our day with a newborn, a 3 year old and a 7 year old.  It was a sort of diary of our day.  I would love to be able to read those emails but they’re gone forever I’m sure.  That old Acer computer is probably in a landfill somewhere.  Again not good says the Memory Keeper.

I read a book last night by Patricia Polacco titled Betty Doll.  I may or may not have stopped at the library on Wednesday and picked up some picture books.  Ok I did.  Call it research, that’s what I’m calling it.  But I do love a good picture book.  Anyway the story was about a young girl, Mary Ellen and her doll that she and her mother made after a fire in their home had destroyed all her dolls.  Betty experiences all the things with Mary Ellen throughout her life, some happy some not.  I did not read the forward in the book before reading it.  In the end I realized that this story was a letter written by Mary Ellen to her daughter, Tricia.  Had I read the forward I would have known in advance that Mary Ellen was Patricia Polacco’s mother and she found this letter a year after her mother’s death.  What a treasure and I’m glad she created a children’s book from it.  I’m glad I didn’t read the forward first.

But whatever you do, however you document your life, first of all – lesson #1 make the memories.  Duh – right.  Catch little pieces of time and make it yours!  Be spontaneous!  Be intentional!