When I first opened Tina’s beautiful kit I saw images of love, romance, weddings and celebrations. I gathered possible photo choices into a folder of “Happy Times.” The next day I opened the kit again and saw something completely different. The light and the dark struck a chord with me, with the red as the bloodline between them.

As scrappers, we lean toward preserving the happy moments of our lives for the generations who follow. I pushed myself to scrap this page of one of the most difficult journeys I have traveled. Through a sea of tears this is what evolved as my final entry in this contest.

Special thanks to Tina for providing this beautiful kit. I will use it again to scrap many celebratory events in my life but this one page will always hold a meaningful place in my heart.



Credits

Ever Thine Page Kit by Tina Chambers

Alpha Charm Alpha by DSP Designers (Lisa Carter)



My Goal

On this page I wanted to highlight Alzheimer’s Disease as an all too common form of identity theft affecting over 5 million Americans. I wanted to contrast the years of light, where we all try to achieve those important milestones and build relationships and memories, with the years of darkness that many elderly people face especially those afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease. I transitioned the two sides by feathering and blending the light and dark papers. I used photos of my mother through the years, fading the last color photo to illustrate how she is losing her vitality and the personality we knew. The bottom dark photo symbolizes how alone and frightening it must be to not remember and live in a darkened world.



JOURNALING

To my Mother,

It is beyond my wildest dreams that we are now at this point in time. As a younger generation we bury our heads in the sand about growing old. We believe we are immortal. Watching you surrender to Alzheimer’s Disease has been so difficult as well as an awakening of my own mortality. Listening to your messages asking me to check on you because you are so confused, wrenches my heart from my chest. Through the last three years, as your daughter and caregiver, I finally realize that this is not about me and what I have to do, but rather about you and what you are going through. As you are robbed of your identity and face a difficult and unfair road ahead, I will hold your hand until God gently releases it from my grip and takes you home. Thank you for all the sacrifices you have made on my behalf but more importantly, thank you for being my mom. You will always be beautiful to me and I love you forever.