Layout of the Week - Memories of Brent

This week I'm sharing a layout I created a couple of years ago. I pulled it out this week to use the photo of Dave & Brent on my fundraising page for the Light the Night Walk. The photo may be the last one taken of Brent before he died. He was fighting to gain his strength after a bone marrow transplant we hoped would cure his non-hodgkins lymphoma. He was coughing a bit on this day and was hospitalized the next day and died, still in the hospital, about 3 weeks later.

It took me a few years to "get it together" enough to create some layouts honoring his memory. Of course I wanted to include this special photo. But I also wanted to include some others from that warm June Seattle day. If you have some photos of a loved one who has died and haven't been able to bring yourself to scrapbook them. Take some time to just look at them and let the feelings come. After you've exhausted that box (or case) of Kleenex, you may be able to remember some of the fun times you shared. I know it takes a while, this layout was created about 4 years after Brent died. But when I started working on it, it just came together. It's amazing to us today, what Delaney looked like at that time and that was how she looked the last time Brent saw her. Putting this layout together helped all of us, Dave & Delaney included, remember Brent as a friend & uncle who was looking ahead at his future with such a brightness in his eyes. This day is such a stark contrast to our last emergency visit to his bedside just hours before he died. By creating this layout, I wanted to replace some of our sad memories with earlier more peaceful ones.

If you are trying to find a way to create a memorial to a loved one, this is just one example. You might want something you can look at everyday. I created a shadow box of photos & memories for Dave after his dad passed away. The box hangs in the hall between Jake & Delaney's bedrooms where we can talk to them about their Grandfather who passed away before they were born, but still loves them so much.

Thinking about creating something like this may be very upsetting. If that is the case, you may want to gather your photos & memorabilia and put them into a box in a safe place until you are ready. Like I said, this could take a long time, but in the end, you will have a wonderful keepsake to help you remember your loved one.