Comments on: PRT131 – Learning to Share

By: KatieK.

KatieK. — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 17:55:00 +0000

This is a powerful story. I am now caregiving as one of my jobs to my mil who has a type of dementia, my own mom has one too, my uncle had it, mom’s aunt had it, etc. I completely understand your thoughts of having for yourself and family what you were, are, and ?may be. And the regrets we all have when we only having missing pieces for a long life lived that most have been full of laughter, treasure, accomplishment and more. I haven’t listened to the discussion yet (I almost always read the comments first) so I don’t how I will respond to what I hear. I appreciate that you posted yours.

By: Noell

Noell — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:27:00 +0000

Yes! :)

By: Noell

Noell — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:27:00 +0000

ha!
:)

By: Caroline

Caroline — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:41:00 +0000

I look forward to the tutorial! And – point taken. I guess we’ll have to be the pioneers in this area. :)

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 22:32:00 +0000

Just wanted to let you know (hope this isn’t too stalkerish): I had surgery last week to remove part of my thyroid. The anesthesiologist told me to pick out a good dream as he started the first medication. I pictured myself listening to the PRT. So I “fell asleep” to the theme song and Izzy’s laugh! Funny thing is I forgot that whole story until I clicked on this episode and heard the music :). Thanks for the memory!

By: Noell

Noell — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:32:00 +0000

So funny! As for doing a Roundtable episode on using old journals — the difficulty is in finding scrapbookers who a) journaled heavily when they were younger; b) have scrapbooked a lot of the content of those journals.
While I’ve been planning to do it for years, I haven’t done it yet. And I don’t know if I’ve EVER seen anyone else who does it. So that makes it difficult for me to find guests! That’s why I said that at some point I can make a video tutorial where I show how I eventually use mine (hopefully sooner than later).

By: Noell

Noell — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:29:00 +0000

So true! So well put!!!

By: Caroline

Caroline — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 22:43:00 +0000

Yay, I punched the air when I heard Izzy read my comment! (Although I still reckon that all that journaling from the past would make a GREAT topic for a show! :) )
This was another fabulous episode where I am unashamed to say I was joining in (yes, out loud) as though I were right there with you. I loved hearing about Ana’s first-date escapades. I met my husband on an online dating site, and kept pictures of some of the not-so-likely other suitors. Most of these were truly horrific (the type that make you never want to consider online dating ever again) but I kept them as a joke and turned them into a file called “here’s who I turned down to be with you” which I gave to my now-husband (yes, I like that phrase too!) Highly amusing to look back and wonder what possessed a man to post a photo for a dating site with his arm around another woman! I still have that file, and a copy of the profile my husband posted on the site. These are documents that we’ll cherish, and laugh over, in the years to come.

By: Ruth

Ruth — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 08:09:00 +0000

This show was definitely A+++ (after all you had Ali, Ana and Amy on)

By: Marcia Fortunato

Marcia Fortunato — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 02:51:00 +0000

I loved this episode (of course, I love all the episodes!), because I found it to be so relevant to where I’m at right now. My youngest son recently left for college, and I’m now an empty-nester. I find that I’m having to transition my scrapbooking to doing more layouts about myself (and my husband) because my kids are no longer home very much. I started doing a lot more of my story as I’ve gone through pictures of my childhood and also pictures of my sons (I have four of them) when they were little. A lot of my layouts have had pictures of my kids, but the story is about me…lots of nostalgia, reminiscing, and contemplating my future (what do I want to be when THEY grow up??).
I also agree wholeheartedly with what Ana said about wanting to document the day-to-day minutiae. As my youngest two were preparing to leave for college at the end of the summer, those were the things that would make me teary-eyed—their toothbrushes in the toothbrush holder, their unmade beds, the tangle of computer cords and adapters in the power strip…in fact, I took pictures of those things, because I want to document them. And now seeing the near-empty power strip every day makes me miss them.
We all go through seasons in our lives—from being single to, in my case, being married, then having children, and now having my children grown and gone a good part of the time; in the future I will probably have grandchildren (won’t they be fun to scrapbook!). But I think our scrapbooking/memory-keeping can transition through all of those times. And the only real constant through my life is ME, so why NOT tell my story?

By: Noell

Noell — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:53:00 +0000

How nice that you and your mom work so well together!

We’ll have to remember that about your name spelling. I love your name! What cracks me up is that when someone is clearly foreign, Izzy likes to say they must be from Texas. Turns out your name makes it sound like you’re foreign, but you really are.

By: Noell

Noell — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:50:00 +0000

Wow, what a great testimony of scrapbooking about yourself. You inspired me to do more.

By: Noell

Noell — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Ha ha! I forgot his nickname, LOL! We had two out of three of the same crushes. For some reason I never crushed on Michael J. Fox. Noah Hathaway was my other major celebrity crush. :)

By: Donna Barnhart

Donna Barnhart — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 23:51:00 +0000

Great episode on a topic that is near and dear to me. I’ve been focused on scrapbooking my story for many years now. I used to teach scrapbook classes and host crops and my students would see my books with layouts about me and seem to react in two ways.Some would question why I feel the need to scrapbook “me” and others would feel empowered to do so themselves because it was something they never thought to do. One woman sat through an entire crop and read my scrapbook and commented that she felt like she really knows me now and it convinced her of the importance. For me the driving force behind my need to tell my own story goes back to my grandmother and then more recently my Mom. I’m the youngest of five kids and my Mom (who was the youngest of 6) was 35 when she had me so my grandparents, aunts, uncles and mom were all older than most of my friends’ relatives were. My grandmother developed dementia at about the time I was 5 or 6. All my memories of grandma consist of her seeing things in trees, playing with a doll she thought was a real baby and not recognizing us. Several of my aunts had some dementia in their later years as well (so far it hasn’t hit my Mom at 88) and so I’ve lived with a fear that someday I, too, may develop alzheimers in my old age. Several years ago, my Mom (who is a genealogist) was working on a book on her family line and asked all my siblings and I as well as cousins to write down our memories of our grandmother. I had to tell my Mom that I had no memories of Grandma beyond the dementia. It made me sad and I thought how wonderful it would be to find a scrapbook or a diary or letters from her that would tell me more about who she was as a woman. What did she struggle with, what made her happy, what did she believe? I was excited to read my cousins’ stories of spending time with grandma because they had known her before. It felt like I was meeting her for the first time. I may very well develop dementia myself someday but I want to leave behind a little of me through my scrapbooks, journals and letters so that people will know who I once was and not define me by my final years with a confused mind. Who knows maybe it will help me remember “me” someday. So when asked why I scrapbook about myself. This is the story I tell them. Fast forward to several years ago when I turned 50 and I was working on a book about my life at 50. I wanted to do a page and compare my life at 50 to my Mom’s at 50. When I called to ask her at 85 about her life at 50 she couldn’t tell me anything about it. I tried to jog her memory as to how old I was then but she still couldn’t tell me anything. So I’ve added that story to my list of “why scrapbook the everyday” because sometimes even without dementia we will reach an age when we can’t remember the details. I never did get to do that page but hopefully when my girls turn 50 they will enjoy looking back at my life at 50 through my scrapbook and see a glimpse of me to compare to their own experience. No one can tell your story but you and no matter how boring it seems to you, it is a story worth telling. Thanks for a good discussion as always.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 23:20:00 +0000

I had to laugh hearing your show. A couple days ago my 4 year old daughter turned on the TV. First time she ever turned it on by herself. She usually has to ask permission and I choose an age appropriate show. She proudly told me she was watching some man and woman. I was surprised to see it was a grown up Rick Schroder. He was my earliest crush and I was pleased to see him. My daughter didn’t want to change the channel because she’d decided he was her favourite too. My first scrapbook was about Ricky. My second about Michael Jackson and my third about Michael J. Fox. Nearly 30 years later, I’m still scrapbooking. Thanks for bringing up “The Ricker”.

By: Katie Scott

Katie Scott — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:49:00 +0000

I listened to the PRT couple of days ago, so I then must have had old boyfriends on the brain; this morning woke up with an idea and actually made a page about an old boyfriend (or more about a lesson learned from that relationship). Plus, I figured out how to make a pocket for all those old photos and how to cover us his face without cutting up the photo! Thank you for the inspiration!

By: Iska

Iska — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 02:09:00 +0000

You guys make me feel so normal. Thank you. I feel this incredible weight to capture the older memories of our family before my mom is gone and I loose all of that history. She loves to scrap with me and even goes to retreats. She is awesome at colors and picking out paper and I do the design. So great to have a hobby together. Plus she supports my scrap habit by always giving me scrappy happiness for bdays and Christmas. Yeah!
After loosing my daddy in 09 and my granddaddy in 2010 she’s the only one left that knew everyone. It is so great to have her involved. I pull out a black and white photo and she tells me about the person and why they should never be scrapped on pink paper or that the kitchen was shockingly painted purple in the 50′s. So fun.
Thanks for the comment rosann – sounds like we could be friends. I’m 37, my brother is 39 and I have a 4 and 5 year old! I did some old Halloween pages from the 70′s too. They are so fun!
I am loving listening to the show. That would rock if you read my comment. Just in case – and this is for Izzy – don’t stress on my name. It is totally phonetic – Is-ka. And no, I’m not exotic or from anywhere cool – I’m a six generation Texan. Just a cool family name. Have a great night.

By: mariangeles_spain

mariangeles_spain — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 21:22:00 +0000

I’ve enjoyed the show so much. Thanks for sharing all that personal info.
I’m glad Ali is doing great after her divorced :)

My grandad is 104 and still goes to the retired people dancing place on some Sundays :)

I”m single and scrap a lot about myself :)

By: rosann

rosann — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:23:00 +0000

This was a great show. First, thank you to all of you for sharing such personal details. This show is about scrapping but there is a certain therapy to hearing other women’s stories and how they handle matters in their lives. It’s very generous of you to share on such a public forum.
I’m all about focusing on me. I have a project that I am doing this year where I photograph myself once per month no matter how great or bad i look and scrap the page. It’s a way of showing myself appreciation for myself and that whether or not I am having a good hair day or a bad hair day, I’m still me and I’m still ok with myself.
That’s not always easy but it’s a great excercise in loving yourself :) I’m so glad Ana was on. I was missing her great voice and insights and sense of humor :)

By: rosann

rosann — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:20:00 +0000

Hi Iska,
I certainly bounce around all the time. I am very serious about my heritage scrapping but haven’t done a heritage page for awhile. And that’s ok with me. I’ll find a black and white photo in a few weeks and get reinspired and drop the summer 2012 photos until another time.
I do mini books for certain themes. For example, I did a Halloween mini book of photos of my brother and me growing up celebrating Halloween. We are 38 and 41 so that is a fun one to capture. And then in the end I’ll add my 5 year old’s halloweens for the fun of it. so it will be a combo of heritage and present day.
Don’t stress yourself or rush yourself. It sounds like you are making great progress and there is nothing wrong with bouncing around frmo one project or theme to another. As long as you are enjoying the process, that is all that matters. :)