Home Sweeter Home by Jann Mitchell

Author:Jann Mitchell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beyond Words

GETTING CAUGHT UP

Do you know what it’s like to haul a monster around on your shoulders for twenty-five years? We all have ’em.

Your monster may be those wedding thank-you’s you’ve never written. Or the neighbor’s power tool you borrowed and broke and hope he doesn’t remember whom he lent it to. My monster is that I was twenty-five years behind on my photo albums.

I got behind, you see, because I have three kids, and then one of those kids popped out three new little people before I ever dreamed of becoming a grandmother. Plus, I travel a lot. And I love to take pictures.

The result was a kitchen countertop littered with envelopes of photos. Drawers crammed full. Boxes stacked in the closet. And even bookshelves lined with old albums which were falling apart and in need of reorganization.

I couldn’t get started—true to perfectionist form—because I had to do it perfectly. Sound familiar?

Yuck! It was easier not to start, to just make friends with my monster.

Then I heard a talk on organizing photos. The speaker stressed what a legacy labeled photo albums are for our children and all those who come after.

She got me motivated, and I realized I had to start. Anywhere. Any project starts with one small step.

So I bought a pretty box complete with organizer cards. (A shoebox with index cards would do.) In pencil, I labeled the dividers TRAVELS, MY KIDS, BIRTHDAYS, HOLIDAYS, FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, ME, and GRANDKIDS.

Then I tackled the teetering pile on the counter, sticking them into the proper places.

By the end of the evening, my box was full and two surfaces were cleared. I became nearly hysterical with relief, just like my daughter did when she was small and she survived a doctor’s visit without a shot.

Next—at my leisure, because the mess and guilt aren’t in my face—I’ll get a few more boxes so that each child and grandchild has his or her own. The subdivisions will be more specific: BIRTH, BABYHOOD, CHILDHOOD, TEENS, ADULTHOOD, WORKING, and so on. As I sort, I’ll pull out the best shots of each person and use them to make a collage to frame and display.

Even if I never get around to putting the photos in albums, now I can get at any photo I need or pull out a section to share with others. The kids can easily retrieve their “archives” when I’m gone.

And best of all, I’ve said goodbye to that monster I’ve known for twenty-five years. Too bad I forgot to take his picture.

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