Saying Goodbye

The past few days have been sad ones in our house. Not only did we have to say goodbye to our visitors yesterday (and I have to say, although they weren't exactly noisely, it sure is quiet around here today, and we are missing them a lot!) we have also been saying goodbye to our Gran, who passed away on Thursday.

One of the things that I enjoy most about this hobby, is sharing it with friends and family. Not only by giving cards etc, but also sharing the opportunity to create stuff, especially with my children. I love that they enjoy and appreciate what I do (craft stuff anyway, not so much the laundry etc!) and that they can join in. I wanted to suggest to them that perhaps we could make Gran some cards, but Bridie beat me to it - asking if they couldn't please draw Gran a picture. Better and better. Something they really wanted to do, and not just to make Mummy happy.

They all sat down to their creating, and Hayden and Bridie were soon happy with what they had done. Campbell on the other hand, surprised us with the time and care he took over his picture, first carefully drawing it with pencil, and then colouring it all in. He was at it a long time. He asked me to write a message on the back, and then added some more drawing there.

The thing that struck me the most about his drawing was the fact that Gran - who he had drawn first, had something in her hand. Since the rest of the drawing involved planets, and rockets and the like, I feared that what Gran had might be some kind of laser, or gun, or other favourite boy accessory. When I asked Campbell what it was, he told me it was Gran's walking stick (with a 'how can you not know that?!' look on his face).

Of course. Gran's walking stick. It was a relatively recent (past couple of years) addition to Gran's life, and is not really something I think of when I think of her. For Campbell though, that walking stick is a major part of Gran's identity (He and Bridie both were quite partial to that walking stick!) - so much so - that it was right there with her in his picture.

I have been thinking about this a lot since then. The different ways that we see, and remember things. It occured to me that this has huge significance when it comes to scrapbooking. Most of my scrapbooking is about my family - especially the kids - and milestones big and small, that they are experiencing. Things that I think are important, and with the exception of perhaps this layout, where Hayden had some input, all are entirely done from my perspective.

I am thinking I might need to change that.

I did have a couple of projects rolling around in my head already that were going to involve the boys creative input. I am thinking that I need to get them out of my head and into the 'box' and really make them happen.

Vague, I know. Once they are out of my head, I will share them, I promise.