Work of Art

During the past week, we received a letter from Phoenix Children's Hospital inviting us to an upcoming memorial ceremony to celebrate the memories of those lost way too soon.  I don't know if I am quite ready to attend the non-denominational service (heck, I have to change the channel whenever the St. Jude's commercials air on television), but I did want to make sure Granty is appropriately honored.  The letter also requested other items to be incorporated into the memorial: a photo for the slideshow and an 8.5x11 scrapbook page.  Even though I may not personally be ready to attend the ceremony, it was a no-brainer to compile the other items.

Alexa was very excited when I mentioned that we would be doing an art project for Granty...what a perfect combination of some of her favorite things.  We tried several layouts and ideas, as trying to cram Granty's life into a single scrapbook page is a tough assignment.  The 4x6 prints we tried were just too big for the page, even when we trimmed the photos as small as we could.  We finally settled upon using the program from his funeral, displaying the large photo in the center and cutting up another program to use the small pictures that adorned the back of the program.  It was sweet - when I went into Grant's room to grab the two programs and give them to Alexa, she stared at the program, kissed it and said, "What a special baby boy" as she stroked his picture.  These largely unspoken displays of reverence for her brother and his memory continue to make me proud and provide me with reassurance that his memory will continue well-past my lifetime.

The two of us got to work designing Granty's scrapbook page; Alexa was thrilled to take over the scissor and rubber cement duties.  I did play a large role in the layout, as Alexa is a big fan of stacking things, but the rest of the design and picture selection was 100-percent Alexa.  I know Alexa was very proud of the finished project....without a doubt, this was the most meaningful art project she's ever made.

Just a few more items to glue!

The finished product....