Returning home from adventuring, our heads full of stories, and phones full of photos. At some point between unpacking shoes we didn’t wear and souvenirs we absolutely needed, we decided to scrapbook. HHH accepted this challenge with calm bravery normally reserved for turbulence or escargot at sea.
One day at sea, while looking for Christmas presents, I discovered a complete scrapbooking set. Not only was everything included, but this set was themed especially for Princess Cruise Lines. The Love Boat thinks of everything. Successfully hiding the 12 x 12 journal and accessories for the rest of the trip, HHH was surprised on Christmas morning!
The box of scrapbooking accessories included papers with just the right shimmer, essential stickers, and a scrapbook itself that felt important enough to deserve its own shelf. We were both confident this book, when finished, would be magnificent.
Printing began. Enter the tank printer, the unsung hero of modern memory-keeping. If you don’t have one, you should. Truly. Bottled ink allows a crafter to print with wild abandon. Big pictures. Small pictures. “Let’s just try it” pictures. No rationing or guilt, but absolute freedom. HHH looked through hundreds of pictures on his phone, picking the best of the best. A monkey here, a tanker ship there. It was surprising how many during the cruise.
Choosing photos was an adventure of its own. Some were ours, carefully framed and occasionally artistic. Kind strangers captured others on the internet with better light, angle, or steadier hands. We welcomed those photos into the family without shame. Scrapbooking is no place for pride.
As the pages filled, so did the conversation. Long, detailed conversations about things like whether a photo was taken on Day Seven or Day Eight, and whether that mattered (it did). We revisited the highlights of each of our 16 days while time slowed as glue dried. Memories of us secured a place in our brains.
Passage through the Panama Canal was covered throughout four very stubborn pages. Suddenly, my confidence wavered while the layout rebelled. This was the moment HHH came to the rescue, calmly taking over. Organizing the best pictures we had, he made sure each one was in the correct order (because that DOES matter when you’re traveling through the Panama Canal.) Together, we finished those pages. HHH, my mysterious Marine, is now a proven scrapbooker.
The finished book is full of color, laughter, and memories pressed safely onto pages. A place we can return to on quiet afternoons, just to smile and relive our beautiful trip together. Thanks, HHH. I truly couldn’t have done it without you… or at least not without significantly more frustration and a much worse attitude.
More tomorrow.
