Getting ready to downsize and put our house on the market six years ago presented us with the challenge and opportunity of clearing out the old and welcoming in the new. I didn’t realize how many quilts and throws I had accumulated until I was dressing my bedroom with fresh stuff, compliments of and guaranteed by realtor daughter Sara to move our decorating into this decade.

The patchwork quilt on the rack at the foot of my bed had belonged to my Mom’s mother’s family. None of her relatives seemed to recall who had actually made it or how old it could be. Even so, for me it provided a connection to that side of my family that I didn’t know much about. I’ve held onto it for over 40 years, since Mom passed it down to me for my first after-college apartment in Cincinnati.

Putting aside the decision of whether to keep the actual showing-its-age quilt or just some photos of it…I started memory-flowing back to 2004 and Mom’s 90th Birthday Party. Family and friends had gathered to celebrate with her at Asbury Place Retirement Community where she continued to thrive, even as she missed Dad dearly. (Hoping I’ll stay as spry and chipper as she looked by the punch bowl.)

What Mom didn’t know about the day was that it held some surprises…friends who had traveled from far and wide to join her, a cake decorated with her younger self looking up at her AND a handmade quilt.

My brother David’s wife Cathy had requested favorite photos from all of us. She transferred them onto fabric and wove them beautifully into the design of her handicrafting. The result was something Mom loved and I inherited four years later.

While I could sit with it now and reminisce for hours over the memories that flow out of each picture captured, what strikes me in this moment came from two other photos from that day.

My husband Chris does his best to snap multiple shots of our family members because IT almost always happens…one or more of us have our eyes closed and another is caught talking. Usually me, as in this photo (I’m on the right) with Mom and my older siblings Betty and David.

After posed photos were taken of this family group and that family group, the last shots were of Mom with the grands and great-grands. Goofiness took over and after a while, Chris just snapped away hoping something good would come of it.

These “outtakes” have become my favorites.

They take me back to being surrounded by multiple generations of family laughing and having fun, just being us…together.

(And I LOVE how this captured Mom’s almost-always calm, composed nature even in the midst of the goofy chaos all around her. That sums up how she lived her life!)

I’d love to support you in capturing your family’s “This is Us” moments, as you’re living them now or as they come to mind while packing up and moving on to the next adventure ahead…so you can start building your Legacy of Family Memories and Mini-Stories!

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JOYfully jotting,

Katie

Family PhotoStory Curator

Mini-Stories Writing Coach

Your Legacy of Memories Mentor

Capturing Mini-Moments that Matter…

Energizing & Connecting Families for Generations!