Memory Book

JMack88

So with Christmas on the horizon, I'm thinking about helping mom make a memory book.  I've ordered basic supplies like a 3 ring binder, some colored paper, photo paper to print out family photos, glue, etc.  However, I'm finding so many different templates out there on the internet I'm not really sure where to start.  I'm attaching a PDF file that gives some ideas from the Alzheimer's Arkansas web page.  (We live in Maryland, I just found this by Googling.)  

I wondered if anyone on here has done this, and if other people have found good templates for something like this?  

I also found these links:

https://best-alzheimers-products.com/making-a-memory-book.html 

https://ocfch.org/hand-in-hand/memory-books/ 

https://montessoridementia.org/file/memory-book-template 

Beauchene105

If you're short on time, here's what I just did. Walgreens photo department can put together a beautiful 8" x 11" photo book for you, ready in one day in my experience. You can either choose where the photos go, or it will automatically lay them out for you. I made a photo book of just my mom's dearest friends through the years, because she already has so many family albums. I was able to find photos online of her college friends by locating the college yearbook and taking a picture-of-the-picture. The book is lovely and Walgreens often has a 50% off special if you submit the photos through the app. So the 25 page photo book was only $15. I know she's going to love it.

jfkoc

The process is important and you will need to work within your mother's abilities.

The first step might be to pull together photos. We did this and it was enjoyable. When we knew the particulars we wrote them on the back. When we knew nothing we trashed them.

My suggestion is not to over work this. Just sit and enjoy the chatting. The product is not so important and will become less so as the disease progresses. You might even make it a memory box so that she can actually handle things and visit about them with you or others.

The time will come when looking at a "memory book" will be stressful. Just keep that in mind and do not ask her "do you remember"!!!!

Another thing to keep in mind is photo recognition. Your mother may identify people when they were younger but a current photo may draw a blank.

JMack88

@jfkoc  Thank you for pointing these things out.  I hadn't given that any thought.