Scrapbooking the Hard Stuff

Hello again, friends. If you're out there, know that I really do appreciate you!

Before we get started, let me just say this: 
In recent days/months/years, I've let my blog go largely dormant save for the occasional cat-related post. There are myriad reasons for that which I've written about and may or may not share. Suffice it to say I'm going to try to post more frequently...but more importantly, write more deeply. I love writing, but I've avoided it fairly successfully in recent days/months/years. I just feel a need to acknowledge this right now.

Okay, that aside, I've been continuing along with my 2007 scrapbooking. Before tackling this year, I assumed that I'd have a lot of events to finish up but thankfully, that has not been the case. Catching up on 2007 scrapbooking has been pretty easy.

Until I came to the 2007 state fair. UGH.

2007 was the year my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was an All-Around Terrible Year, topped only by the following year when she died from a sudden heart attack. So 2007 turned out the be the last year we had with her at the fair...the last year all of us were together at the one place that is near and dear to all of our hearts.

So suffice it to say that I really don't like to think about 2007 OR 2008. When peeking into the 2007 photo box, I noticed that I hadn't even bothered to print those photos. That's avoidance for you. I've actually gotten quite good at that.

Honestly, I wasn't sure I could even deal with these photos. But I have vowed to plow through this scrapbooking so last week, in advance of the Polar Vortex which settled over the Midwest for a couple of days, I uploaded and printed a whole slew of fair pictures. I stocked up on adhesive and set to work. 

Once I started, it wasn't QUITE as bad as I thought. I spent a few evenings just putting photos in place then set aside some time to write the journaling.

When I was a child, we camped at the fair for the entire duration. We continued that tradition through my middle school years. Once Bailey arrived many years later, my parents started camping again. While she was growing up, Bailey stayed with them and explored the fairgrounds in more detail than most people will ever experience. After losing my mom in 2008, we continued to camp with Dad, but the fair was never the same. In fact, it became almost unbearable for me and now that Dad is also gone, the fair remains a very sensitive place for me to this day. 

Naturally, I cherish the photos from the 2007 fair, especially those with my parents. That summer, we were fervently trying to believe that my mom was going to be OK, but she never bought into that...and she turned out to be right. Looking at these photos today, I can see that sadness in her eyes.

Deep breath. Keep going, I told myself. This is a story that must be told.

In order to keep the fair photos from completely filling my album, I used a few collages here and there. This was a good way to include a lot of smaller pictures without taking much space. I also used a number of pocket pages, like the one shown at right.

This particular year, Bailey entered several competitions in the food department...

 ...and also Fabrics and Threads. You might enjoy reading the story of Teddy, her first stuffed bear, who went to the fair on a Grand Adventure but came home empty-pawed.

 

But wait, as if zucchini bread and stuffed bears weren't enough, there's more! 2007 was also the year that, in moment of insanity, we entered Lily in the Household Pet Cat competition which was held in the sheep barn. You read that right. The sheep barn. WHO THINKS THAT HOLDING A CAT COMPETITION IN A SHEEP BARN IS A GOOD IDEA?

If you missed these posts, you might enjoy reading about how we cleaned Lily up for the big show.

And you might also enjoy the story of how all the judges came to learn Lily's name, in a not-so-desirable way.

 Being the Memorabilia Hoarder that I am, I had kept Lily's cage sign so I used it on a page. In a surprising turn of events, Lily actually won best decorated cage that year -- and we didn't even know there was a competition for that. It (sort of) made up for her Very Bad Behavior.

 As I worked on these pages, I smiled more than I expected. The truth is, these are some of the very best memories I have with my family. I want to remember them. I want our daughter to remember them. Even though it is hard to do it, these stories absolutely must be recorded. 

Onward I went.

 I used a few of the 6x12 pockets. I've found them to be very handy for situations in which you have a few extra photos but no obvious place to put them.

 They're also just right for making pockets, this one to include a couple of daily fair schedules which can be pulled out and unfolded. My dad always kept one in his shirt pocket.

Unexpectedly, I found a 2007 page sample I'd made for Memory Bound so incorporated it into that section of the album. I make a lot of page samples for the store without photos so I typically don't keep them. I was glad to have this one and still like it enough to include it in the scrapbook.

I often tell new scrapbookers that the process of putting an album together can be therapeutic. I really believe that's true. 

So friends, here's the lesson (and I'm speaking from first-hand experience): 

Handling photos from a painful time compels you to acknowledge that pain, however successfully you've avoided it. If you take it further and write about those photos, you might find yourself expressing emotions you have sealed away. And then -- if you'll let it -- scrapbooking the hard stuff can even ever-so-gently nudge you toward a place of healing. 💟

 jp