Scrapbooks

Today is my birthday, and one of my friends shared that she will be giving me a scrapbook. I began wondering what would go into this keepsake book and if I needed to attend a scrapbook party to decide. I also wondered if I still possessed my childhood scrapbooks, and so I searched for and found these relics of my past; blew off the dust and opened yellowed pages. My youthful life came to life under crinkled tape. A childhood spent reading, writing, earning Girl Scout badges and attending camp. Accomplishments, notes and vaccination records filled the pages.

I think I might put highlights of my life beginning a few years ago as a starting place. I am eager to lay hands on the scrapbook and feel the pages under my fingers as I ponder what items to place within. I imagine that some 50 years into the future, as perhaps I look back and blow the residue of more life from faded pictures, torn ticket stubs and certificates of achievements would only mirror the older scrapbooks.

And yet, I know now what I did not as a child. That scrapbooks and photo collections are only symbols of precious memories stored in the mind; love captured in the heart; and passion emblazoned in the soul. I know my spirit soars when falling leaves the color of pumpkins, squash and cranberries swirl in wooded paths. I understand the power of music to heal and renew. I believe that magical rhythms of words are art and gentle illusions painted on canvasses defy words. I have experienced the beauty of waterfalls, casting double rainbows in the mist, which stopped me in deafening silence. I have felt the roll of thunder rumble through barriers and heal internal fractures. I’ve heard the roar of the crowd at football and hockey games blend with my beating heart and drown out critical voices. I know what it’s like to face death and live. I have watched friends depart on trails that left no footprints and walked alongside others on paths blazed into my heart.

I can’t tape happiness in the scrapbook binder or paste love on its pages. I won’t attempt to capture dreams and contain them under the hard covers. What I can do is live life to the fullest and along the way find mementos to help me remember not what I did, but how I felt during these moments of my life.