It's a Bittersweet Year for This Birthday

Today is my 47th birthday.  I've been dreading this year for awhile now because my Dad died of cancer in 1987 at the age of 47.  It's difficult thinking of all that he left behind at such an early age.  I can't imagine what he must have gone through while he was sick, thinking of all the life he would be missing with his family.

After he died I began gathering photos of him to make a scrapbook.  I found very little.  I carefully placed them all in a box.  For 18 years those photos have been hidden in that box.  I just couldn't bring  myself to put them in an album.  Honestly I was afraid that no matter what I did, I wouldn't bring them the honor my heart knows they deserve.

Something came across me recently and I dug into the box.  I discarded some scrapbook paper that I had saved for the project because it was already so outdated!  That's a sure sign you have procrastinated too long on a project!

I went scrapbooking with a friend on a recent Friday evening, and this was my project.

I've only found about 23 photos in all, so it is a short book, but I enjoyed walking down memory lane.  It wasn't as hard as I had imagined, but maybe time has helped.

I became a scrapbooker for one reason............to document my family's life.  When I had searched for photos of Dad to do this project all those years ago, it sparked in me the need to take lots of photos of loved ones, so if I ever loose someone, or heaven forbid it is me, my family has lots of photos to look back on.

Now I can enjoy my little scrapbook, share it with my girls who didn't get to meet their Grandpa, and remember what a great Dad he was to me.

And I pray my 47th year is a healthy one!  I miss you Dad!