A LIFE IN PICTURES

The story boards I made for my mother-in-law's 90th birthday party this past weekend were probably the most time consuming of all the party preparation. But, I'll have to say, they were SO much fun to work on and the enjoyment they brought at the party made them well worth every minute's investment of time.

Of course, they all have names/titles. If I name my Christmas trees (and I do), why would anybody be surprised that I named the story boards?? LOL

This first one I called FAMILIES ARE FOREVER. It features Edith's family of origin. Her family tree listing the birthdate of her and her 11 siblings and the earliest photo we have of her family when her parents were still living are on the left side of this poster. The family picture was taken around 1934 - just a few short years before she got married. Two of her older brothers were already gone from home when it was taken and two of the married ones had their wives in the photo with them.

This poster has Mamaw's school (class) pictures from the early 30's in the center section and all the group pictures of her and her siblings through the years on the right panel. Her sister, Aunt Ruby, quiped when she looked at the photo of Edith (center-top) "Yes - that's just what Edith looked like before she ran off and got married." Edith was only 17 when she married Roy's daddy (Aunt Ruby would have been 13 at the time).

The many nieces and nephews that attended the party enjoyed getting to pick out their own parents in some of these pictures. There's also a picture of all of Papaw's siblings and their spouses on this poster.


LOVE THAT LASTED was my favorite poster. I enjoyed working on it and thinking about the heritage Hollis and Edith lived out before our family with a loving relationship that lasted over 65 years of marriage. The fact that some of those years weren't always easy makes it even more special to me. In the young years of raising their family Hollis was known to drink pretty heavily and Edith always had to work harder than she should have to help keep a roof over their head. Still, they persevered through the hard times and came out with a marriage that anybody would envy. What a testimony!

When Hollis and Edith were the age Roy and I are now, they went dancing every weekend! Roy and I are old fuddy-duddies by comparison. They knew how to have fun together as much as they knew how to work together.

And work TOGETHER they did! On the HER CHILDREN CALL HER BLESSED poster there are pictures of them working side by side in their Dry Cleaning business. In later years they owned and ran a little country grocery store together.

I loved making this poster and showing how Edith fulfills so many of the scriptural descriptions of the godly woman in Proverbs 31.

There's one funny story about this poster though ... There was a photo in Edith's picture box (which I borrowed and scanned many of these pictures) of her with both of Roy's siblings when they were little but NONE of her with Roy. Talent and technology to the rescue - I sent a picture of Edith and one of Roy's baby pictures that were taken about the same year to our granddaughter, Maggie, and she photoshopped me a picture of Mamaw with Roy (center top in the picture)! I asked Mamaw if she remembered when that picture was taken and she said "Yes, I sure do!" ROFL! Roy told her the truth later on!

GRANDCHILDREN ARE A BLESSING was HUGE fun to work on - All the grandchildren and great grandchildren who attended the party enjoyed spotting themselves and "remembering." What a heritage Edith has in grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even two great-great granddaughters! Lots of great times and sweet memories!

CHRISTMAS ISN'T CHRISTMAS 'TIL YOU'VE BEEN TO MAMAW'S is the other poster where the children and grandchildren really enjoyed finding themselves in the pictures. Christmas at Mamaw's is always jammed packed, noisy and fun. We are rich in family memories of gatherings at Mamaw's house. She likes nothing better than to have EVERYBODY under her roof at the same time!!

I covered the tables the story boards were on with quilts Mamaw has handmade over the years. I think she enjoyed getting to show off her quilts as much as she did her life in pictures!

Edith's 90th birthday was a really fun celebration for all of us and I was immensely honored and blessed to get to help host it. She is a treasure of a mother-in-law and I love her dearly!