Editor’s Note: Hello, hello everyone! My grandmother passed away earlier this month so I am currently out in California for three weeks catching up on some much needed family time. The post below was written a few days after my grandmother’s funeral but I didn’t feel quite ready to share it until today. I hope it will inspire you tell your story in the same way my grandmother inspired me.
My sisters and I with my Grandma Beryl on her 90th birthday
This past week we buried my Grandma Beryl. At 94 years old she had lived a long and healthy life and as my aunt said during the ceremony, the dash between her birth and death was full of amazing life adventures.
As the program at her service said, she was a teacher, author & apricot rancher. She taught high school typing and business for 34 years impacting 3 generations of students. As she often said, she knew it was time to retire when her high schoolers started coming up to her and saying, “You taught my grandma!” At the tender age of 80 she wrote a book documenting the history of apricot ranching in the California San Jacinto Valley – a book that’s become required reading in some university classes here in California.
As our family and friends celebrated her life this week, there was one common thread that kept coming back to me: story.
Our stories are our legacy and my grandmother knew that better than anyone because in addition to all of the other accomplishments in her life, she was also a scrapbooker.
Her scrapbooks date all the way to her early college days in the 1930s and are scrapbooks in the truest sense of the word: bits & pieces of life collected over time interspersed with handwritten notes, photos and newspaper clippings.
While her scrapbooks capture her husband and her children’s lives, it is no doubt when you read them that they are her story. Her thoughts, her comments, her adventures.
As my sister said after reading thru the 27-page write-up of the Mexico trip she and her friend Betty took when they were 19 years old, “It sounds like her.”
And it’s true, reading thru her scrapbooks is like having her there with you, witty (and occasionally self-deprecating) comments and all.
This is why I’m such an advocate for telling your story.
Because our story, our memories, our life adventures are our legacy.
Our scrapbooks serve as a connection to our past, present and future. They are a little piece of us left behind for the generations who come after us.
I’m going to miss my grandma. As a friend of hers said earlier this week, Beryl was one of a kind. At 94 years old, she was sharper than most of us can home to ever be and her can-do spirit and perseverance was an inspiration to so many who knew her. It saddens me to think I will no longer be spending lazy days out in Hemet listening to her stories.
But I take comfort in knowing that a little bit of her lives on thru her scrapbooks: her stories, her handwriting and the moments that mattered most to her.
So if you’ve ever wondered if telling your story really matters, please don’t. As the granddaughter of a scrapbooker, I can tell you it most certainly does.
Can I take Levitra if I am taking other remedies at the same time
Lynnette, this was a very touching post and definitely a good reason about why we scrapbook. Thank you for sharing your story and my condolences to you and your family. Your grandmother sounds like a very special person.
Aww, thanks!
My deepest sympathies to yiu and your family on your loss. Your Grandmother sounds like a very interesting person. And her scrapbooks – what a treasure to be able to have those to look back over her life from her perspective.
I am a Grandma now, to a 2 year old and a 4 year old. Your post has inspired me to get off my butt and finally start documenting my life, instead of just theirs. Thank you!
You have no idea how happy that makes me. Yay for telling your story – seriously, they’ll love it when they’re old enough to appreciate it. 🙂
Thank you for this beautiful post – my sympathies to you and your family. Love the focus on the dash and the wonderful stories – how lucky you are to be a granddaughter to a scrapbooker. Love the perspective you shared…
Thanks so much Kayla. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this beautiful post. I too am from California but live elsewhere, and I too had a grandmother who is my reason for being hooked on stories. She had scrapbooks from her high school days to present with everything from newspaper clippings about plays and sports to pages about “ditch days” where she went to the beach with her friends. They posed for the camera and goofed off in their vintage bathing suits. She shared her crushes and school life. They connected me to her so much. I loved asking why she wrote something, or why she scratched her face out. She was born in 1920, so I imagine these books have a similar look. I’m sorry for your loss, but I’m so glad you had her for so long and that she gave you the scrapping bug! I’m a big fan!
That’s so neat! Thanks for sharing Krista!
Thank you for sharing this Lynnette! Don’t forget that one of her accomplishments also includes having you as a granddaughter. 🙂
Aww thanks Vera. 🙂
So sorry to hear about her passing, but sounds like she lived a wonderfully full life that impacted lots of people..what a blessing. Love that she scrapbooked!! Oh how I wish every day that my grandparents or even my mother had written down those stories from childhood….well, one thing for certain is my children and grandchildren will know all the nitty-gritty details of their lives.
Thanks Jenn. 🙂
Thank you very much for this, Lynnette. I am here pining away, wanting to tell my story but so bogged down in details that it leaves me overwhelmed. I will get through this, I know. Meanwhile, your story helps. A lot.
Raymonde
Aww, *virtual hugs* Raymonde! I think we have all been through those moments of overwhelm. I just try to remember why scrapbooking matters to me and I find that helps simplify what really matters to me.
Lynnette,
My sympathies go out to you, as I am sure even after these months have passed you are still grieving! What a gift to have known your grandmother for as long as you did into your adult life. I still have my grandmothers around and hope to for many years to come. It’s so true what you say about how her humor and personality came through in her scrapbooking. I think a persons little quirks, phrases, and sense of humor are the hardest thing to put into words when they are no longer with us, so what a gift to have her “on the page” so to speak. It also makes me hopeful that one day all the dozens of journals I’ve written since childhood will serve as a comfort and a window into my world for my descendants. Thought you and your readers might also be interested in a free packet I give away that helps people to tell their stories (for those who might be more reticent). It’s also got a ton of tips to help you interview your relatives. If you write me an email or send me an email through my website, I’d be happy to share it with you, legacyconnectionsfilms.com. Thanks!