this is absolutely incredible in every way! wow, I was just searching for a way to use the HS clock on my page & stumbled upon this. My grandpa lived til 90 w/A's & my 60 yr old sis-in-law was diagnosed a few years ago, so I understand your struggles. I'm so glad you've got his stories down & yours are now being preserved as well. I hope your dad is well & it is a very slow progression. God bless!
this is so special. my grandmother is turning 91 this year and I have that same desire to capture her stories in words, because sometimes the picture & layouts can't tell all the detail.
Just beautiful! My mom has alzheimers (she is almost 89) and is in a nursing home, she was always falling, lost control of her bodily functions, etc. Now she is at the stage where she doesn't know me or my husband, children (I am an only child), basically we think she is back to when she is a little girl as she is always calling out for her sisters...it is very, very sad and the one thing that I was happy was before her memory completely went, we spent a day together and went through the family photos and she was able to tell me lots of info...My best to you and your family as you face this.
What an inspiration you are. I had a grandmother that hard organic brain syndrome, which is very similar to Alzheimer's. She thought all of her daughters were her sisters and you couldn't tell her that you were her grandchild because, of course, she wasn't old enough to have grandchildren. My prayers go out to you and your family. BTW, she lived to be 92 and had the disease for over 20 years. Tough cookie that one was.
What a great lo. I'm sorry to hear what you are all facing. It know it must be very difficult. My dad is also a story teller and you've inspired me to spend time having him tell his stories.
This is such an incredibly beautiful layout. You made me cry!!! You are right! The journaling, the "story", is the most important part! I hope that your father will be blessed with more time with little progression of this disease.
This beautiful! It's so great that he wrote his life story. I wish my grandmother had done that. Maybe I would have known more about her. Your children will cherish it!
Oh Laura, this page is so beautiful, I could barely read your journaling through the tears in my eyes!! I think it's awesome that your dad has such a wonderful spirit about this and is writing down his memories for you!...I've been thinking about the same thing lately, I used to do a lot more journaling on my pages, but lately have been more concerned about the 'appearance' of the page....thanks so much for reminding me of the importance of journaling!!
This is absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!!!! The layout drips in beauty- the colors, pictures, and each element are perfect, but the journaling is what makes this layout extra special!!!! Wow, I'm sooooo impressed right now!!!! How in the world could I have missed your gallery???? I won't from now on!!!! WONDERFUL job on the contest!!!!
Wow! I love how you included such personal items and personality into this LO. It really does tell a story, you did a beautiful job preserving this time in yoiur life. This Lo is just beautiful!
Laura! I found you! I don't know if you remember me, but I suggested you start a blog and you did! I lOVE LOVE LOVE your layouts and most importantly your words. You move me with your work!
Wow! This LO is such a great tribute to your DGF! I just love the photo of him writing and your journaling is wonderful. I'm so sorry about his diagnosis, but I can't help but admire his will to write the book. You will treasure his writings for years to come and that will be so nice to have.
wow. wow. Laura, this is absolutely unbelievable my friend. I am so sorry for your grandfather, and your family having to go through this. I am so glad you put this together.
Laura, I've been taking the tour of your gallery...it is truly beautiful! This layout is so touching. My daddy died about 7 years ago...I wish we'd gotten him to record some of his memories....I know that must be a VERY special book!
I love the closeup of his hand--this is a beautiful page (I actually just asked my hubby to take a pic of me writing the other day! ---for a left handed layout I'm doing)
I'm really sorry to hear about your father. Both of my grandma's passed from alzheimers. Actually, it's a big reason why I scrap. I plan to start doing family crops with Alzheimers effected families soon.
Beautiful work!
Hi Laura,
I have recently discovered your gallery, and I have to tell you I am just amazed. I love your work, and you are a true creative artist. One of your entries is a winner in the contest for sure!
This is so amazing!!! I rarely journal on my pages either - your "story telling" challenge has inspired me to do that more and use each of my scrapbook pages to tell a story! I'm so glad you shared this!
Wow ... this is so powerful. It sends a message to all of us, or at least it does to me. How often I too neglect journaling on a page, expecting to be there to explain it, and who knows if I will be there or not. I am so sorry about your father, but how cool that he wrote his own book! This page is fabulous! Love the picture from his childhood, the present picture and the picture of him writing and making additions/corrections?! Also, how cool to have part of the manuscript ! And I love all the little embellishments you used, the clock, the key, everything fits and is wonderful. You really should submit this someplace special!!
Oh Laura, So sorry to hear of your father's illness. Such an awesome lo. Really makes you think about what a wonderful tool sbing/journaling can be...especially to our posterity. You tell it girl!
Wonderful layout! I totally understand about the whole journaling thing. I am also trying to journal more and don't forget to add the date as well. Love it!
OMGosh, Laura ~ This is STUNNING! I am so very sorry for all of what your dad is experiencing, and for how difficult it is for you! Your journaling here is just brilliant and touching! I also LOVE the aesthetics of this LO and all the wonderful pics and embellies you chose for it! What a beautiful tribute this is to him! God bless you all!
Laura, this just fabulous!!!! Love everything on it, especially the journaling...I wish I could do something like this before my father died....
This is he best legacy we could give to our family!
My great-grandmother wrote a book about her life too and it is well-treasured in our family. Kudos & hugs to you for both this layout and for journaling as you have done. You are right: you will not always be able to sit down and tell the stories so, as someone who does journal for precisely that reason, I am here to post & encourage you to keep it up!
What a wonderful page, it brought tears to my eyes. My grandad told us stories of time time in Italy during WWII before we lost him and it's my mission to keep those stories alive.
A touching layout for your dad -- a good reminder that scrapbooking is all about the story behind the picture (whether you like your handwriting or not:).
in tears here, too. perfect in every minute detail Laura. a message that needed to be shared and you did it perfectly. exquisite. your father is quite a man. TFS.
this is beautiful Laura, and wonderful journaling- I have tears in my eyes. What a wonderful thing for your father to do, and I'm so glad you got it down on paper!
Laura, what can I say about this-I have tears in my eyes right now. It is a very touching story and lo. About your lo, I love your collage feel to it, but then again, I love collages. I just love your style.
This layout is close to my ((heart)) and was *very* difficult for me to do. As you will see, my Dad was recently diagnosed with Alzhiemers. Hopefully this page will tell the story. The photo under the word 'Remember' is his family from the village in Poland he came from in front of his old synagogue, the little picture is me & my Mom from 1964, the writing under the clock is his printing from the manuscript of the book. I just wish it scanned better- it looks so much better in real life :>) TFL,xox Laura--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The journaling reads: At seventy-six years old, my father is a vibrant man with a loud laugh and a lifetime of memories. Last year, we noticed that simple things were becoming increasingly difficult for him to recollect and process. After intense testing, the physicians concluded that he was suffering from the first stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. The doctor’s gave no timetable as to how quickly he could digress. The doctors explained to me it could be a year or ten years- there was simply no data to determine when all of his memories would be lost.
What hit me hardest was that all of my father’s joy and sorrow from a lifetime which I shared with him would be GONE. All of the stories he had told (and re-told) over the last 45 years of my life would be taken away by the ravages of Alzheimer’s- and we didn’t know when.
Being the incredible spirit that my dad is, he decided not to let this whole ‘Alzheimer Thing’ get him down. While away in Mexico for six months, he wrote a BOOK about his life. If it never gets published, he says he is fine with that as long as he can share all of his ‘stories’ with his grandchildren. For him it’s all about remembering while he can.
Inspired by my father’s mission to get all his memories on paper, it occurred to me that since I started scrapbooking I rarely journal on my layouts. Some of it was that I didn’t like my own handwriting or that I wanted to focus on the aesthetic appearance of the page and journaling would possibly distract from the ‘look’ of the page. Mostly my lack of journaling was because I made a mistake.
I made the mistake of assuming I would always be able to sit down with my friends and family and explain what the picture in the layout meant. The reality is that Alzheimer’s takes away ones ability to remember even simple details. I no longer have the luxury of assuming I will be able to explain it all. So now I am passionate about telling ‘the story’ through journaling. Now, scrapbooking is all about preserving the memories- while I can.
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