Show and Tell Friday: Grandma’s albums

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Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts “Show and Tell Friday” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Guidelines are here.

My mother-in-law, at the age of 80, has tons of pictures, but there are three albums that are exceptionally special.

One is a scrapbook my nieces made when my in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary several years ago. I didn’t take a picture of the outside of it, as it is just a plain blue scrapbook on the outside. But on the inside there are multitudes of pictures of the various family members and a few close friends who gathered together for that special occasion.

This is my husband, his parents, and his siblings then:

Jim's family at 50th anniversary

They also passed out a piece of decorative paper to everyone who attended and asked them to write a little something about what Jim’s parents meant to them or congratulating them, etc. My children were — I think ages 3, 9, and 12 — and here are their entries:

The second album is one my husband put together after his dad’s funeral. His dad had an added-on room at the back of the house that they called his “smoke room.” He never was able to kick his smoking habit, but he took it outside, which, of course, can be quite cold in the winter in ID. So this room had a small wood-burning stove, big flannel jackets on nails, a TV, his tools, and various odds and ends. A lot of times early in the mornings or later in the evenings, he could be found out there, and a lot of times the family members gathered out there. My husband took pictures of that room while he was there for the funeral, knowing that someday it would probably be cleaned out or rearranged or just otherwise different, and he wanted to remember it just as it was. He also took pictures of the various family members who were able to come and a few discreet pictures at the funeral (not the part in the church, but at the graveside). All of that seemed too personal to share here, but I did want to share one picture from the funeral that shows two veterans saluting the coffin:

That almost brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.

The final album is another one our nieces made, this time for my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday just before she moved here in July. It was the first time since the funeral in 2002, I think, that all four kids were together.

Her birthday cards were inserted in the back pages.

These albums have become her treasures, and it is special to go back and look through them.

Some of the other things her daughter has sent here from ID are several pictures. We’ll have to figure out which to hang up in her room and which to take out of frames and put into albums, but I’ve enjoyed discovering some of the older ones, like this one of Jim’s Mom — I’m guessing maybe in her 20s.

And this one of his parents I think during their dating days.

Don’t they look like they’re right out of a 40s movie?

Thanks for having a look at these special albums and scrapbooks with me. I’m sorry the pictures aren’t the best quality — I was having trouble with the lighting in the room and the flash with the lights off being too bright, but the pictures without them aren’t terribly clear.

You can find or share more treasures at the site of our hostess, Kelli, at There’s No Place Like Home.

22 thoughts on “Show and Tell Friday: Grandma’s albums”

  1. What lovely memories, I was in tears 😦 just reading this, it is good to have such great memories. That is a lovely protrair of the two of them together at the end, they look so happy. What a great show and tell, stop by and visit sometime soon.

  3. These are really enjoyable to look at. I’m sure you could spend a lot of time browsing through them as she shares her memories. I wish I’d asked for more stories from the past while my own parents were alive.
    Nancy

  4. What great albums! I’m sure looking at them makes you smile and gives you comfort too.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog too.

  10. The albums are a great and special keepsake. I need to work on something like this album for my family.

    Angela

  12. Wonderful albums full of wonderful memories 🙂 and your photo’s are so fascinating to look at! It’s always surprising to see the way people dressed and lived years ago, I wonder what we’ll look like :). Thank you for sharing!

    Have a Fantastic Friday!
    Kathi 🙂

  14. Wow, Barbara – such memories, such treasures. Thank you for sharing.

    And you are so right – we are all creative in our own ways! 🙂

  16. I’m into scrapbooking and try to inspire others to make family albums like these! They are such treasures and will be passed down through the ages!

    Thanks for sharing.

    Katherine

  18. Awwww… those are sweet memories — for her and for you two! I wish my MIL had more old pictures. They really seem to be at a premium. Even in recent history… I do have pictures of her 50th anniversary though – I’ll have to put them into a book just for her!

  20. those are great! I need to get our pics in albums and out of boxes, lol. thanks for visiting my blog for shown tell!

  21. Wonderful albums full of dear and precious memories. I know how you and your family must treasure them. I was so touched by everything–Thank you for sharing this with us all!
    Blessings to You!
    Claudia O.

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