Family Memories

When I finally completed our family photo album for 2011 in February,  I was excited for it to be a keep-sake that would help me remember these crazy years of baby and toddler insanity where most days are just a blur.  I wanted to have a way to look back and remember the chubby curl of 2 year old toes and the gummy smile of a two-toothed baby and a handful of adorable stories without having to wade through disk upon disk of photos.  I was excited when it arrived, but fully expected to put it on a shelf and take it out in 5 years.

But it has now become one of our favorite bed-time books.  Jonathan LOVES reading it.  He wants us to tell a story about each picture and will find crazy background details and want explanation- like "what shoes am I wearing in that picture?  where are they now?"

They say real memories don't form until after about 3 years of age.  I know a lot of my own memories center on a single image that is probably in a photo-book somewhere or a rendition of a story I heard my parents or grandparents repeating around the dinner table.   And a lot of my sense of self is based the knowledge that this is MY family, that regardless of anything else I am a part of something and from somewhere.  These shared memories give me a place to belong even when I am far away and a sense of pride that goes beyond my self.