Let's Play Hide & Seek!

Can I come over to your house for a game of Hide & Seek?  We'll have such fun!  I can hear the giggles already!  Peeking around corners, poking into closets, unfolding big handmade quilts....  Oh, we are definitely "seeking", but not for some giggling hidden child.  We are seeking your own memories.

Take a walk through your house just as it is, and seek out those things that make you pause and smile, the very things you pass every day.  Look around your home, and take in the things that make up your life.  What connects you to your life?  Why are these things in your home?  How do they contribute to the person you are?  Let's play Hide & Seek!

When I walk down the hallway in my house, I see a framed picture of my parents on their wedding day.  A priceless memento on it's own, but I connect with that framed image on a deeper level.  My grandfather made the frame that holds the photo.  I pass by that frame every day, and if I take a moment to pause and reflect, I am 3 years old again.  I am sitting way up high in Grandpa's big red Chevy pickup truck, his hand over mine on the manual gearshift, and we are driving to his workshop.  My feet shuffle through the sawdust on the concrete floor as we enter the workshop.  I giggle as he pretends to mop the sawdust off my nose with his red handkerchief.  He lets me pick something out from the many carefully handcrafted items he has made, this time a small wooden heart to hang on a ribbon around me little girl neck.  He carefully chisels the date on the back of the heart, and the "jewel" is mine.

Every time I pass something he made I think of him.  I think of how much he would have enjoyed meeting his great-grandchildren, and how he probably would've kept peppermint lozenges in his shirt pocket for them too.

Your home is full of "hidden" memories like this one too, and they would be so easy to scrapbook!  Just walk around your home and really look at the furnishings, the wall hangings, your clothes, your books.  Ask yourself these kinds of questions:

 How do these things connect you to your past?  

What other memories are connected or associated to these tangible things?  

Did someone special give or bequeath this item to you?

Did someone special wear a coat just like the one you now own?

Does your perfume remind you of anyone?

Do you keep certain traditions in honor of precious childhood memories?

In what way does this tangible thing provide you comfort and security?

For me to scrap a page about my grandfather, I could take a picture of all the picture frames I have in my house, the necklace tree, and the jewelry boxes he made for me.  I would journal about his superior carpentry skills, his varnish-stained hands, and our trips to his workshop in his big red pickup truck.  I would journal that whenever I talked to him on the phone I would ask, "Am I still your girl, Grandpa?"  (To which he would answer, "You sure betcha!")  The journaling would be the essence of the whole memory -- the photos would just serve as a visual representation of my childhood experiences.

Now it's your turn!  What's something you see in your house every day this is "historically significant" to you?  Choose a few "everyday" items in your house, and take pictures of them.  Take pictures of the figurine from your grandmother.  Take pictures of the desk your grandfather used in his study.  Take pictures of the comb and brush set your aunt left you.  Include a recipe card written in your mother's handwriting.  Then JOURNAL!  Write about who gave you that precious keepsake, who else it makes you think of, the last time you saw the person, favorite terms of affection, and how you knew they loved you.  By creating scrapbook pages about these real-life "memory triggers", you are not only sharing your memories with your family and friends; you are also paying homage to those who have touched your life so deeply.  And the way you present your memories is absolutely specific and unique to you -- you are the only one who can tell these stories in the right way, because these memories belong to you.

If you aren't a scrapbooker, or don't know how these "random" memories would fit into your family album, consider creating a page with these photos and your written memories and frame the result.  I guarantee it will be a conversation piece, and something people return to read again and again .  You could also frame the completed memory and give it to someone as a gift.  An instant treasured keepsake.

So take some time and play Hide & Seek in your own home.  Seek out those "hidden" memories, and enjoy reliving those precious experiences.  You might be surprised what triggers are "hidden" in plain sight.