Documenting life is a blessing. Anyone who takes pictures, writes in a journal, scrapbooks, or records life in any form knows how rich the experience can be — both the act of documenting, as well as being able to go back and look at what has been recorded.
And for many, documenting life has taken on a whole new level of significance. I know many of you have used Project Life to record the journey through difficult times. Like Karin.
Now I have 17 completed weeks in their albums and daily filling each new day. I am in love with your kits and don’t think I will be stopping at the end of this year. By keeping up with the journaling and photo processing every day I have found an amazing thing. My experience of life has changed. There are days that my experience says it was a terrible, horrible, no-good day with nothing redeeming at all. Then I go up to my loft office and process the day’s pictures and write the kids’ journal entries. Not one day in the 118 days of photos I have taken, has my kids’ overall experience been a total bad day. Sure, there are bad moments and hardships – especially in treating cancer – but my kids are thriving and still happy despite all we have given up. I see their joy and realize that the day wasn’t as bad as I experienced it and so I can go to bed each night in peace.
……….
I have seen my children’s amazing spirit and it has saved me from the darkness I feared when my son was diagnosed. Having Project Life has helped me to really live life with my children and see each day with honesty and hope. I believe whole-heartedly I would have given up on the albums long ago if it wasn’t for the simple brilliance of the Project Life system. Thank You for giving our family the gift of amazing albums as well as a changed outlook. While I am sure many people do not have as big of a push as we did to preserve our history I feel as though I would have greatly benefitted from the fresh eyes daily journaling and photos doing Project Life has given me. The time I spend each night on their albums is so centering it has just become part of my daily routine much like lunch. So again thank you.
Sincerely,
Karin Herman
Tags: cancer, documenting life, elijah, hardship, trials
WOW, this was an amazing post, Karin I am so glad you found Project Life, it is the scrapbooking solution to getting our lives recorded, I will remember you and your family in my prayers. Becky thank you for sharing this post from Karin it truely touched my heart. You should be so proud that your little company as you call it has touched so many lives in so many different ways. Donna
Wow… very powerful and very thought provoking…even though we don’t really have the money right now… it makes me want to purchase this project to help with my own healing… I am the person that wrote to you on facebook about the gratitude journal and it seems to me that this post was a message to me to start this journey… thank you Becky for being the awesome person you are!!! You truly are an inspiration and a hero to me!!!
Thanks,
Stephanie
Elora, Ontario, Canada
Becky thanks for posting this.
Karin, I just started using digital project life. Thanks to Becky’s wonderful program I am able to document my child’s life… we call it “journey through cancer”. He had Leukemia also.
I am making a book for all his grandma’s and Pa’s. It is a wonderful way to keep his memory alive. Your children are beautiful, wishing you all the best.
Denine;
Edmonton, Ab Canada.
i can’t even begin to imagine what Karin and her family are going through. her children are SO lucky to have a mommy that loves them SO much and I am happy that project life helps her review/document these hard days and also see the joy that is there. it reminds me how blessed i am with my own little boy and girl. i’ll be praying for karin and her son.
Karin –
You are amazing. I am a younger sibling of a brother with leukemia (he had it from ages 5-9 when I was 4-8) and I have very few memories, particularly anything positive, from that time – it would have meant so much to me to see in a scrapbook that my life was “still being lived and loved”!
Sara
Sara, I am so sorry that you didn’t feel loved through your brothers cancer. We are trying so hard to make sure Aliyah knows how much she matters even though we have to do things differently for her than we did when Elijah was her age.
What a beautiful post. Thank you for this. My thoughts and prayers to Karin and her family, and thank-you to her for sharing. I needed to read this today, as a woman in my ward (Mormon church congregation) suddenly passed away just two days ago — the experience has left me aching for her family and wondering what I can do to show my own family how much I care. This is something I can do.
Well,that post certainly puts everything in perspective,doesn’t it.What a beautiful child Elijah is ,and what a beautiful family they are indeed.It is so important to document all that our families are doing bcause one never knows when life will decide to throw us a curve.Don’t wait,document now.I have never met anyone that told me that they were not happy to have captured special moments with their cameras.It is definitely worth the effort.God bless this family….I hope that Elijah’s recovery is a quick,comfortable and permanent one.Good luck!
I love this post. Karin is an amazing mom and a great friend to me. It was through her that I also found Project Life. Karin’s experience gives me the wisdom to know I must cherish every precious moment of life and Project Life gives me a place to document it!
(there are no adequate words to write – just sobbing)
agreed.
This just puts it all in perspective doesn’t it? I am so impressed that this mom had the courage to document this challenging time. Well done.
wow…I have chills as I write this comment.
To Karin – your strength is amazing! Your children will truly appreciate this when they are older. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.
To Becky – once again, you are awesome! This is a way to show the God gave you the ability to create your ‘little company’ so that families can capture the good, bad and the ugly.
Well done!!!
I’m the sister-in-law that discovered project life on a quilting blog. I purchased it to document my projects through the year and shared the information with Karin. At the time I had no idea the impact it would have on my family’s life. Project Life has helped us focus on LIVING. My brother, Karin, Elijah and Aliyah are on the west coast & I’m on the east coast. Karin also uploads the photos each day so that I {along with the east coast family & friends} can see how the kids are doing. While we are so far away it helps us to feel a part of the day to day.
Thank you Becky for designing a product that has helped our family in so many ways.
Best wishes to all of your family Julie, so glad you found something to gel your families together even though distance separates you. Blessings to your nephew xx
This brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart because this family is amazing Prayers to the family and Amen to Mom Karin, for doing an awesome job!
Am I the only one crying right now? WOW. What a powerful post. Thank you Becky and God Bless Karin and her beautiful family. Sending peace and blessings to her…
Such a fantastic story of living life through adversity. Thank you for sharing those beautiful photos of your precious children. I wish Elijah a full and fast recovery and a long life. In years to come he can share his journal with his own children and his children’s children.
Huge hugs x
Life is all about focus. Thank you for sharing from your lives … beautiful and powerful!
This is one of the most amazing things I have ever read.
Tears….this touched my soul. God bless you Karin and Becky. Elijah will be in my prayers. This post was a gift to be treasured. May the Great Physician heal and comfort as you make your way through this journey.
Wow! Prayers going out to Karin and her family as they continue the journey. I have been doing PL since the first year it was born as P365 in 2009. I was SO GLAD that I did it that year as my sister was battling colon cancer and as I spent 3 months helping to take care of her, I documented all the daily things that were going on that I know would have been just one big blurry memory years later. My sister died in Sept. of that year and I continued to take the pix and journal but it was another 3 months before I had the strength to add it into my P365. I am 1000% grateful to be able now to look back at that book. It would NEVER have happened w/o Becky’s creative idea. Thank you again Becky from the bottom of my heart!
Wow, totally amazing and inspiring. Thanks for sharing this with us.
This story has brought back so many memories of when my now 18 yr old (graduating high school) daughther was also diagnosed with leukemia at 3 yrs old. I wish I had project life back then to document her struggles, treatments, unbelievable strength and how she conquered this dreaded disease!! My prayers and thoughts go out to Karin and her beautiful family!!!
For once in my life I am speechless and truly don’t know what to say. I just wish you all the very best. You are a remarkable woman.
Patti xxx
couldn’t have said i any better. God Bless you and your family
I follow Julie’s blog and so I know your story. From the quilt and pillow cases she made for him for comfort in the hospital. I think of your family often and love the updates Julie will share from time to time. I wish you all the best.
Terry
Hi Karin,
First of all, thank you for sharing your story with all of us. You are truly an amazing mom and I can see from the posts, that you have a strong family with you through this journey. Realizing that you are documenting the joy within this otherwise tough time, is very poignant, and is a message to all us about the fragility of life.
Document life now, because tomorrow is not promised to any of us.
I send a warm (**hug**) to you and your family, and I will keep all of you in my prayers.
Cheers,
Jan
God bless Karin and her beautiful post. Karin, thank you for sharing with us. We’ll be praying for your sweet boy and entire family.
God bless you, Karin and family!
Karin, I’m so happy your family has PL to record such happy times and help you thru the tough times. Becky Higgins is so amazing and wonderful. I will keep you and your beautiful family in my prayers. I truly love love PL as this is my 3rd year doing it and can’t imagine life without it now. It brings me and my family such joy.
Thank you Becky for sharing this and reminding us to enjoy each and every precious day with our loved ones.
Hi Karin, I’m that friend of Julie’s who drops in with hugs and prayers from time to time on Elijah’s journey. Thank you so much for this post, it shines with the love and strength of all of you. And once again reminds us all to enjoy each day for the blessings it brings.
Sitting here choked up with tears in my eyes. What a wonderful thing for Karin to have to help her work through this difficult time in their lives. My prayers are for all of them and especially little Elijah as he heals and gets rid of that dreadful disease. She is a true inspiration for everyone. Sometimes we truly do need to be able to sort through and put our thoughts down and then we realize that there are always blessings even in the most difficult of times. God Bless you all and Becky, God Bless you for the vision you had with this wonderful project.
What an amazing journery Elijah has been on. Thanks so much for sharing. I know how important each and every day is going through treatment. I’ve taken that journey three times over the past 8 years. Having Project Life to help you get through, share and record Elijah’s journery, priceless.
Wow. Thank you so much Karin, for sharing this with us.
And Becky – PL is truly your legacy that you will leave to the world at large.
Thank you for sharing such a beautiful post!!!
After reading this through tears. . . . I didn’t feel as sorry for myself. My “bad stuff” is nothing in comparison to a sick child. I love that even on those HORRIBLE days, she can still find something good. Thank you sooooooo much for sharing.
Thank you everyone for your kind words. We truly do love project life and how easy it has been to make beautiful albums for our family. Both of our kids are happy and thriving and seeing that each day helps remind me that we are doing ok.
What a beautiful post!
I had some of the same exact sentiments recently as I attended my great-aunt’s funeral. It made me miss my grandma, but she was faithful at keeping her personal history up and I loved that I could read about her!
Amazing Karin. You are so strong. Your story has reminded me to be thankful for my life. God bless you and your family.
And Becky, thank you for sharing her story and creating a wonderful product!
Amazing. What a gift you are giving them, Karin. And what strength you must have! Very inspiring and beautiful.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your gorgeous babies.
Hi, my 6 yr old granddaughter was diagnosed with ALL on May 17th, of this year..I am struggling seeing her weak with complications, surgeries, not eating, sad eyes, weight loss, and Grandma are supposed to fix things, and I can’t do anything…I need to see a light at the end of the tunnel…very sad times. So nice to see you doing this as you go through your struggles.