For Jodi...

Some of my favorite albums are ones that I made for other people. Maybe it's because I'm sometimes more creative... with my own albums I just want to "get them done" and with other people, I might have more innovative ideas.

One album I did for my sister-in-law, although not my own idea, was a memorial album for her dog after he died. She is not a scrapbooker, so she gave me all the pictures she wanted to use and I put them together in a small album. It's a good size, small enough to stay out on a coffee table, or tuck away at times. But it says what it needs to say and is a good remembrance.

Since I made that album, I've thought about these pet albums. My own sister's dog died shortly after my sister-in-law's did and she has mentioned she wants me to make a similar album for her. And, I've thought more about taking pictures of our family dog, so that I don't regret not having current pictures when someday I want to make this album for us. (For those of you who get my Christmas picture, did you notice the dog's inclusion this year?)

With my dog getting older, I've thought about this more. Although losing our dog at anytime would be hard, the thought of it brings more dread as my kids get older. Our dog is mostly an outdoor dog, but I noticed this summer how much of a "family dog" he has become. Instead of asking for playdates or playing with the neighbors, the girls would ask "can we go outside and play with Chester?" They would go out and literally "play" with him for hours. If I would have let them take the dress-up clothes outside, he probably would have been a ballerina. And I swear my youngest daughter talks to him and understands him. It's a little spooky.

So someday, I'll have the girls help me make this album, telling me what they want to say, what he means to them. That way when they look back they can remember exactly what he meant to them. How he was part of the family. How they voluntarily included him in their prayers everynight. How he made their lives better.

I hope I don't have to make this album for a long time.