March 25, 2014: A Little Job

Grandpa Jim and Zach

My oldest son, Zach, was in need of a side job. With the resourceful assistance of my Aunt Kathy, we quickly filled his plate. Mounds of photo albums and stacked photographs that have been neglected in my basement were in desperate need of scanning and organizing. Kathy and I laid out a plan to conquer the project. And Zach? Definitely at the right place at the right time.

After getting past the mother/son work-together-rub with Kathy's careful intervention, Zach hit the ground running. And although we have barely skimmed the ice berg, the result so far has already brought on many smiles.

I have been the family historian; capturing our collective lives in picture taking, written journals, scrapbooks, saved treasures, and now a blog. My basement is full of these collected memorabilia. Taking a walk down memory lane by viewing these mementos always brings a smile.

On his first attempt at super-scanning, Zach successfully scanned 287 photos spanning the last three months of 1997. Ben was 18 months old and Zach, 4 and a 1/2 at the time. Viewing the finished product brought back thoughts and feelings I had forgotten about from a time so long ago.

I clearly remember how it felt to turn 30 and to be happily surprised by family and friends with a party. I remember the warmth of a chubby toddler cheek on my neck and the constant cleaning of little boy faces and dirty pull-over bibs. Life in late 1997 was full of swings and sand boxes and lots of toy trains.

Lipstick was viewed by me as a necessary makeup accessory since I viewed myself as a mature mom. Babies slept in arms with the background lull of giggling children filling every extended family gathering. The cousins that hugged and danced as toddlers in the 90's are now young adults and lifelong friends.

I enjoyed perusing Zach's descriptive cations to his scanned photos. He really did remember most events and names. As a parent, you often wonder what memories will actually stick with our children.

Knowing my children too well, I asked Zach which photos he took pictures of on his own phone. It is typical for the boys to snap a favorite childhood shot for their own social media outlets. I was curious as to which pictures brought meaning to him.

Zach held up his phone and showed me the picture of him and his Grandpa Jim by a real train.

"I totally forgot about this picture, Mom."

It was the first time our little Thomas the Tank Engine fan got to go on a real train. At age 4 1/2, he was thrilled. And by the looks of the picture, his grandpa was having fun too. Sixteen years later, the picture still holds meaning to him.

Zach is coming back for a day of scanning on Thursday. I can't wait to see what he turns up on the next round :)

This is my favorite memory photo of the 287.
We spent countless days in our gigantic sand box and playground. I would sit in the sand for hours while the boys would play. I can remember like yesterday the peace and joy of these moments.