New Layouts of Past Christmases

After months of ill health and feeling lousy mentally about my job, my family and life in general, I walked right into an ah-ha moment on Friday. There was a spring in my step, a song in my heart and a smile on my face. I believe the old Pat is gone (knock on wood). I feel good physically, mentally and spiritually. Amen, halleluiah, nuff said.

I took my newfound strength and energy and finally started scrapping again. I managed to finish the last page of the Christmas layouts I had planned to scrap.

This first layout is of Christmas 1990. It was a difficult

layout to scrap, because one of my best friends, sitting with me and the kids on Santa's lap, died recently. Her death was accidental, out of the blue and hard to accept. Scrapping this page was a very emotional job, but I felt better, relieved, more in touch with my loss, than I have before.

The rest of the layout was easier to scrap. My son had just turned five. We had a corner lot, good neighbors and friends. We were back in Illinois with family.

This happened to be our last in Villa Park. We moved closer to hubby's work, way on the north side of Chicago, the next year. No matter, as long as we stayed around the area, close to my family.

Every year our tradition had been to gather at Mom & Dad's, no matter where in the country you lived, for stockings and Christmas cookies, followed by presents and breakfast. One year, we decided to open the champagne bottle(s) and toast the morning in. By the time we had all the presents opened and ready to go over the river and thru the woods to my grandparents' house, we were dsrunker than skunks . That tradition died with its inception!!

The next year we were cozy in our new home. My son had started Kindergarten, and although the drive was longer, I got to hang with my mom more often.

The last photo I'm going to post here is of his Kindergarten Christmas program. The pictures I'm using for these layouts aren't the best, but they are the only. After losing all but six of my photos from our Disney trip in 200 (flooded basement), I've learned to appreciate all my photos, no matter their quality. It isn't the angles and lighting of a shop that make the layouts, it's the memories attached to the photos and memorabilia that will keep the album passing from one lap to another.