When I first started short-term leave from work I was determined to make the most out of my time off so I ambitiously tackled my list of “on-hold” projects. One of those projects was coming up with a way to preserve the memory of the letters Lucas and I wrote to each other while he was a missionary in Texas.
I thought about typing up each letter but as I looked through the letters I remembered that our handwriting and little side notes would be impossible to capture without scanning each page. It took over 40 hours of organizing letters in chronological order and scanning them to get digital copies of each page. I blame my old self for writing so big on such small pieces of paper.
Once I had jpegs of each page I started putting them into a digital book making program. I used Blurb.com and was so happy with how easy the process was to put everything in place, view the book preview and place the order. Since the project took me so long, and it cost a pretty penny (because it is 430 pages long) I was so nervous to place the order. I closed my eyes when I clicked the submit button!
My intent was to wait until Christmas and surprise Lucas with the book as a gift. However, the finished book arrived on my doorstep a few days before Thanksgiving and I couldn’t even wait until then to show him! I always ruin surprises because I get too excited to wait!
I’ve never been a journal writer, although I’ve love documenting memories. Reading through these letters, I’m so grateful we basically have a journal of our lives from August 2010 to August 2012. For the most part we shared positive experiences with each other, but we also shared what we were learning and what we were looking forward to.
Since scanning each page took so long, I ended up reading almost every letter during the digitizing process. Outside of cracking up at our random stories and not-so-subtle hits of affection toward each other, I learned from the letters that our positive attitudes and faith in God carried us through what I know was a challenging time of growth and change for both of us. I’m so grateful we have this “journal” to look back on and learn from.
It was interesting to read about us learning lessons 8 years ago that we are still in the process of learning now. Funny how we thought we had life figured out (or at least some parts of it) back then. The older I get the more I realize that we’ve only scratched the surface of life’s lessons and that we’re not meant to figure everything out.
Merry (early) Christmas! I love you Elder Brook.