Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Scrapbooking Your Heritage


I have been asked (with a snicker)...what's so great about scrapbooking?

Some people think scrapbooking is all about putting birthday, holiday, or travel pictures into a book with pretty papers...and in some respects it is. But for me, scrapbooking is a way for me to share my life with my descendants...so they will know more about me than my name, birthdate, and my image in a few photos. I don't know why that's important to me but it is. Maybe it's the genealogist in me, seeing the images of those family members gone long before me and wondering what their daily life was like.


So yes...I scrap life’s special events, but I guess my ultimate goal is to bring myself to life for those who will never know me and may wonder about the kind of person I was, what I believed, and what my life was like. So rather than just sticking with vacations and school sports, I tend to scrap about what's in my pantry, favorite ornaments, my love affair with a kitchen appliance, feelings about current events, my shoe addiction, and other uneventful happenings in my life. So for me, THAT’s what’s so great about scrapbooking...and that's why I'm not a "typical" scrapbooker.


Meaningful scrapbooking doesn't have to be expensive and it doesn't have to be time consuming. I've posted an example of a VERY simple layout I did a few years ago. It’s simplicity proves that scrapbooking need not be expensive with pages full of trinkets and embellishments, not does it have to be time consuming. The journaling reads:

In so many ways, this little church represents a big part of my heritage. My great-grandfather, William C. Rose, was one of the church founders. His son, John G. Rose, Sr, my grandfather, lived his entire life in Timmonsville, and this church was an integral part of his life.

My parents were married in this church.


I was baptized in this church.


My great-aunt played the organ and my uncle sang in the choir.


I delivered my grandfather’s eulogy in this church.


I never lived in Timmonsville, SC, but as a young girl, I spent many summer weeks there with my grandparents, who took me to this church every Sunday that I was visiting. We did not drive to church because there is no parking lot! Only a few spots on the street were available, and those were needed by folks who lived to far to walk. Since my grandparents lived only one block away, it was a normal event for us to walk.


As the years have passed and this small country town has undergone changes, the Timmonsville Presbyterian church, once a thriving and vital part of the community, has seen its membership shrink. The tried and true remaining few members, including my uncle John Jr., still cling to the church they love...


...the church that I will always cherish...


...the church that is my heritage.

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