Scrapbooking Therapy

Heal Your Hurt

There are times in life that just hurt, period. There is not a person on earth that gets to the end of their life without some pain involved and there is simple nothing to we can do about it. We can, however make a choice to hold on to that pain or to take steps to release it and move on.

Scrapbooking is one way to release the pain of losing a loved one or the end of a life experience and at the same time rejoice in the memories. I knew of a couple that did just this in the journey of healing from the death of their only daughter in a tragic car accident. I will call this couple Pam and Steve and their daughter Annie to protect their privacy.

Pam and Steve had undergone loss on every level, their careers, their home and their daughter. It was a dark time in their lives. They tried many forms of “grief therapy” and healing and saw only minimal results. Tears and anger were their constant companions until the day that Pam wandered into a scrapbook store. An idea hit her and she picked up a scrapbooking how to book, a book of scrapbook ideas and some scrapbooking templates. She rushed home filled with the first light she had felt in a long, long time. She grabbed a shoebox that had remained hidden under the bed and ripped it open. She picked a photograph out of the box and sat down to her new album. After finishing the first page, she dove into scrapbooking with full force. She enrolled in several classes on photo mounting and layout design. She researched scrapbook ideas online.

Upon seeing her passion and release of grief, Steve joined her and together they started to create a scrapbook history of their daughter’s life. They laughed and cried together. They started with the traditional 12X12 scrapbook album and when it was full, they moved on to other sizes and options. They embraced digital scrapping as an easy way to share with others, but never lost their love of laying their hands on the physical pieces as they put together their labor of love.

Christmas was a difficult time for them and as another Christmas without Annie approached, they turned it to a joyous one. They made small 6X6 albums and 8X8 scrapbook albums for some of their loved ones filled with funny and endearing moments with Annie. For other family members they painted frames with little wooden animals in the corners. Inside the frames, they placed a picture of Annie with one of her beloved pets. For each of their friends and family they made a card with Annie’s picture and artwork. The healing of a family had begun.