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CMW | Elizabeth Dillow
12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Scenic Route) + rub-ons (Basic Grey)
A Note From Elizabeth
This is an older layout, but I couldn't leave it out of a gallery about connections, for obvious reasons. : )
Journaling
This is my grandfather. I never knew him—he died in 1957 of a heart attack.
From the snippets of information I've learned about him I've always marveled at the things we have in common: he was a social studies teacher and a coach. He loved baseball. He believed in sports for girls. He liked to write. He didn't like to play cards. How sad that I never got to say to him "me, too." But then one day a few years ago M gave me something of his that changed my relationship with my grandfather: his scrapbook. My grandfather was a scrapbooker. Me too, once again.
It was through this large paper album falling apart with age that I met my grandfather for the first time. I learned from him how funny he was, how much he loved my grandma, how dedicated he was to his job—first as a teacher, then a superintendent. I learned what was important to him by seeing what he glued down; newspaper articles, ticket stubs, programs, dance cards, and photographs, with handwritten commentary throughout. He probably kept this record for himself, not giving much thought to who might read it when he was gone, but I am so thankful for this unwitting gift of his to document the sad and funny, the great achievements and snapshots of his life. Maybe I'm compelled to do the same because of genetics. I'll never know, but I do know that it's important. For me, and just maybe to someone in the future.
As seen in the September/October 2007 issue of Simple Scrapbooks magazine. © Creative Crafts Group. Posted with prior permission from the publisher.