Here at ADKOF, we're not just a trio of jewelry designers...we're people too! I (Rachel) saw this awesome prompt for a blog post the other day, and it has not left my mind since. So I figured where better to post it than right here for all of you. Hopefully it will give you a little insight into what makes me, well...me! The prompt asked this:
"If you woke up in the middle of the night to flames licking your ceiling (I mean serious blaze in full throttle) what would you make SURE you grabbed before you ran out the door? Of course we all assume we'd grab our kids and our significant others and probably our pets. But what ITEM would you instinctively grab?"
So I thought long and hard about what that would be. And I kept coming back to the same thing. My wedding album. That thing is like 30 pounds, but darnit I would lug that thing out the door with me in a second! Why??
1) I'm one of those oldies who didn't have the luxury of social media and digital wedding albums. Jonathan and I were right on the bubble with all of that. My wedding album is a photojournalism style album, but it is the ONLY place where all my pictures are. There is no CD/DVD, they're not all on Facebook, I can't just call my photographer and have them replace them. What's in that album is all I have! I heard several people tell me when we were planning our wedding that what's left after the cake is eaten and the dress is boxed up and the flowers are wilted are the PICTURES. And our pictures captured our beautiful day so perfectly. Flaws and all!
2) When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things to do with my mom (other than dance to Michael Jackson and Madonna in the living room) was to flip through her wedding album. She even let me try on her wedding dress even though it had been "sealed and preserved". I loved seeing my parents so young and in love. I loved looking at those brown suits and peach tuxedo shirts with ruffles. I loved how different everyone's hair looked. How all the bouquets had these beautiful satin ribbons hanging down. I loved seeing my grandparents looking so young...so very different than the way I knew them. I loved seeing my aunts and uncles looking so different. All the men still had all their hair! I was enthralled with how gorgeous my mother looked. Her daring scoop neck wedding dress with the organza and lace long sleeves (the style in 1978 was long sleeve and high neck which my mother swore made her look like a football player and she refused to wear something just because it was "in style"). Her delicate and elegant mantilla style veil. Her beautiful young skin and long dark hair. She was such a vision! I remember thinking how lucky I would be if I looked half as gorgeous as her on my wedding day.
I want my kids to have that too! If God doesn't bless me with girls, then I'll pass that joy on to my granddaughters. I want to flip through that album with my kids and show them how grandma and grandpa looked in 2007. How Daddy's hair was jet black and Mommy was so skinny and they were so young. I want them to see my dress and my hair and my perfect flowers. I want them to see how happy we both were on that special day. I want them to see that "new love" look in our eyes! That love that hasn't been refined yet by time and life and children. It's just raw and innocent. I want them to see our family members all together in one place at one time all smiling and happy. I want them to remember our wedding day as clearly as if they were there! Just like I "remember" my parents' wedding day 34 1/2 years ago. Time flies, people change, life happens. But there were moments along that way that meant something, and I want my babies to know that June 2, 2007 was one of those moments...
So there ya have it. That's what I would "save from the fire". I might be standing out in the street in my jammies lugging a 30 lb wedding album with an armload of kids and a 65 lb dog on a leash, but by gum, I'll have that book of memories to share with generations to come!
So, dear readers, what would you save??
