As odd as it may sound, many people like to create a scrapbook, or album when a family member passes away to record the event. There are many ways to go about doing this in a tasteful way that can give honor to your family member’s life that they lived.
I have written before about scrapbooking a funeral. Many times, people do take photos at a funeral. But, this doesn’t have to be what your album contains. There is another way to go about doing this without taking photos of the deceased.
First, start by giving people in attendance a piece of paper to write their thoughts about the person that passed away. One tip for doing this is to choose papers that are 6×6 in size. They can be colorful or not depending on the mood you want to set for this album. Choose papers that reflect the life lived by your family member that passed away. If you choose this size, then you can easily matte the papers when guests are through with them into an 8×8 album. Most albums come with either plain white or plain black papers. So, choose colored papers for your guests to write on.
Recently, a family member of one of my family members passed away. They decided to do this. It turned out wonderful, and gave everyone the chance to grieve in their own way. The woman that passed away loved cardinals and fireflies, so the person putting together the album included rub-ons and stickers of cardinals and fireflies. The album was then given to her husband.
Let those in attendance know that they can either write a letter to the person that has passed away, or they can write their favorite memory of him or her. Small children can draw a picture or tell their parents their favorite thing that they remember.
After you collect these thoughts, you can put them in an album. For the main page of the album, include a picture of the deceased. Include other mementos from the day. If group photos were taken of relatives, include some of those photos as well.
While most people don’t want to capture the deceased with a photo, you do want to capture who that person was in the life that they lived. By collecting these thoughts from family members, friends, and other guests, you will find that you have something that will make you remember who came to honor your loved one, and remember the life that your family member lived.
Meredith Ethington is the author of this blog. To learn more about Meredith, and her history with Scrapbooking and Genealogy, go here.
< Return To Scrapbooking