Scrapbooking Ladies

Today I tried to get the photos that I have taken since last year put in scrapbooks. I do this once a month with a group of ladies that are truly wonderful women. It is also entirely likely that - although we all attend the same church - we would never have had occasion to be friends. There are actually a total of nine of us - but there are six of us that form the core of the group.

I am the youngest in age...by three months. We are all mothers (or stepmothers) and we all love documenting the stories of our lives through photographs and scrapbooking. Most of us have been doing this for over ten years. In my case...since January 1996 (13 years). I still do my scrapbooks the hard way...with paper and stickers...while many of the others have gravitated to digital scrapbooking. They travel far lighter than I do...

Among us are a banker, a retired homemaker, a retired medical assistant, a caregiver, a special education teacher, a church organist, an entrepreneur, and a Calculus teacher. We range in age from 46 to 70+. We have raised children, grandchildren, husbands, dogs, and occasionally...the roof. We love to eat...and we are all fans of chocolate. In fact, chocolate is the guest of honor at most of our gatherings.

What I realized today was that in meeting monthly for the past several years...in addition to finishing several scrapbooks...we've learned a lot about ourselves. I've learned that watching one of my friends and what she is doing with her daughter is a pretty good gauge of what I'm going to be dealing with in the near future...since her daughter is three years older than mine.

From another, I've learned that it is possible to keep a perfect home. From a third, I have learned the beauty of taking care of others and seeing to the details of life that some people gloss over or take for granted. From a fourth, I have seen what a commitment to doing the right thing looks like. From a fifth, I see how important the church and my brothers and sisters there are going to be down the road. From a sixth, I learn that it is possible to make a living doing something that I truly love. From the others, I've learned dedication, love, laughter, peace, patience, joy, and perseverance.

I think that many times in life people are put in our path to teach us something. I know that I've been covered and blessed many times by my connection to these wonderful women. Women that not only ooh and aah over my pictures...but who remind me that I am important and special to them. And who will actually get a can of Comet out from underneath the sink and then clean it for me to keep me from being mortified.

That's true friendship. Later!