Organizing Memory Keepsakes

Do you have trouble organizing your memory keepsakes? My grandmother gets the credit for giving me the desire to find practical ways to keep them.

My grandmother always had a knack for recording family memories.  She made a scrapbook for me as a child way before scrapbooks were popular.  It was before acid free glue sticks, and pretty papers.  She also kept letters in a red binder.  It’s nothing fancy, but it’s something that I hold dear.  When my dad was in Jr. High they moved from Pennsylvania to Montana.  My grandfather accepted a church assignment way out west.  My grandmother’s father and stepmother lived in Cincinnati, Ohio.  This was way before e-mails and Skype. She recorded their lives in Montana through letters.  Some of these letters were handwritten and some were typed.

My great grandfather kept all of them.  When he died my grandmother put them together in a book.  She slid them into protective sleeves for the next generation.

I remember during the summer my sister and I would visit my grandparents for the week.  When it was time for bed my grandmother would get the book out and read them to us as bedtime stories.  There were stories of my dad and his adventures of growing up in Montana.  Stories of my grandfather interacting with ranchers and helping build churches. This was a new experience for them all.  Their stories became my stories.  I am so glad  I have my grandmothers memories in her writing.  I will pass them down to my kids, and hopefully they will pass them down to theirs.

This memory book inspired me to try and find a way to keep my old letters.  These same grandparents continued to be great letter writers.  They would write my sister and I letters often.  When I went to college they continued to write me letters of encouragement.

I decided to go through my hope chest and weed through all the letters and cards.  Some were from grandparents, aunts, cousins, my parents, and my husband when we were dating. I decided they deserved more than to be tossed in a heap among all my other things.  I made piles and separated them all.

I decided to take a manila envelope and cut scrapbook paper to fit the front.  I then decoupaged the paper to the front to give it some stiffness and shine.  I took plain office labels ( You could use decorative ones too.) and wrote what type of letters were inside.

I also made one for all the letters and cards I have gotten from my husband.  Most of them are from when we were dating.  I took a strip of scrapbook paper for the label and used decorative scissors.  I also added a sticker.

I am working on an envelope for letters I received in college, and ones from friends.  I will be sharing more organizing ideas later.  Do you have a unique way you store your memories?