Last night the prompt for NaPoWriMo stuck out to me and I had to write about a CD that Liz made me for Valentine’s Day in 2003. I used to give homemade gifts – scrapbooks and mixed CDs – all the time when I was in grade school and my friends would always make me mixes. I have kept most of them.
| Today, in gratitude for making it to Day 20, our (optional) prompt asks you to write a poem about a handmade or homemade gift that you have received. It could be a friendship bracelet made for you by a grade-school classmate, an itchy sweater from your Aunt Louisa, a plateful of cinnamon toast from your grandmother, a mix-tape from an old girlfriend. And whatever gift you choose, we wish you happy writing!
Twelve tracks like friends carefully |
I decided to send the photo and poem to Liz last night and she absolutely loved the kind gesture. The photo and poem put her into a good mood and it felt nice to text back and forth. I’m glad my poem made her evening.
Here’s a song I loved in middle school and I want to share it to go along with the poem.
Music has been helping me get through this quarantine and apparently, lyrics are making their way onto some layouts of my Happiness Box 2019 scrapbook. I’ve only completed January through early July and I will share what I have done. When I complete mid July and the rest of the year, I will write a part two. I hope you enjoy the layouts and music the way I do!
I want to scrapbook when I went to Dorney Park with Anna and this is what I’m thinking of using:
I was thinking today about what I posted last night about someone’s grandma who was a Holocaust survivor, who was pouring over her scrapbooks and creating new scrapbooks during this pandemic. Her granddaughter reported that her grandma is the strongest person she knows. I wonder if resilient people rely on their art to get their message out there. I wonder if they find courage to tell their stories through their art. Given my own personal experiences and seeing other people who have lived through such atrocities, the strongest ones seem to find strength not only on their personal stories, but their communities and documenting them. I might have to do more research on this and see how valid this thought is.
The Happiness Box Project 
Hi, Jessica Marie!
Wow, this post is epic, dear friend! I’m happy to know that your friend Liz appreciated the poem you wrote about the mixtape CD she made you for Valentine’s Day way back in 2003. It’s a wonderful poem. I am all verklempt after scrolling down and reviewing the highlights of the first half of 2019 through the layouts in your scrapbook along with the music you love that kept you afloat through the difficult times. I like how you wrote song lyrics on some of the pages. The compositions are very nicely done. Every picture is linked to a hundred memories – so many friends, so many smiles, so many good times. I remember all those places you went, especially Coney Island Beach because you recorded yourself narrating as you looked around and waded in the water that day. Just think of all the people who have shared experiences similar to yours but never bothered to take pictures or videos, to organize them, write about them and scrapbook them, and therefore have little or no tangible evidence that those thing ever happened. As a result their memories will surely fade away over time. Yours, however, will remain intact, preserved forever in the pages of your yearly scrapbooks and the writings on your blog.
In recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mrs. Shady and I watched the film JoJo Rabbit this evening. if you haven’t seen it, it’s great and well worth it.
Take care and stay well, dear friend JM!
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