Have you given Between Me And You™ journals to your loved ones? Please share your experience.
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WELCOME! Between Me and You™ journals help you create lasting handwritten family keepsakes.
If you get around to it, check them out at www.sanddunebooks.com.
THIS particular space is a place where we can all come together and share family journal experiences,
share ideas about ways to create keepsakes, even share memories.
Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to your contribution ... winston
Which 2 Between Me And You™ journal versions should be published next?
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FRIENDS of Between Me And You™
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Several years ago I was sitting around my house in Indiana missing my family (mom, dad and sis all living in Arizona) and reading "Way of the Peaceful Warrior." I came to a part in the book that asked if you knew you had a short time to live, what would you want to accomplish. I thought about this and determined that I wanted to find a way to get closer to my parents, to understand them better and hopefully understand myself better as a result.
THAT's when I got the idea of creating a journal for each of them that contained questions "I've been meaning to ask." I won't bore you with the details right now but the whole experience was touching at so many stages and now every time I read through those 2 handwritten journals, tears come to my eyes. I highly recommend the process for both the giver and the recipient.
I haven't given it yet. But I'm currently working on filling one out for my daughter {she's 7 months old now}. I plan on giving it to her when she's older so she can read through it. I love the ideas of these journals. Just wonderful.
I hope to get the Honey one for my husband maybe another Mom for my mom to fill out. Probably the sister journal as well! I just wish I had something like this from my Dad and my grandparents before they passed away. It would have been so great to read and share with my daughter too.
I don't think we can ever be prepared for the death of a loved one but we can prepare to create those lasting memories.
In the end, when we no longer have them beside us, to look at the wisdom and sometimes even humor in their written words is something we can cherish.
Sadly, I don't have a journal for either my mother or father who have both passed away but I'm working on one for my children. What I wouldn't have given this Christmas to have spent some time quietly reading my parents memoirs..
I very much appreciate your journals. They truly are just what we all need. Thank you :)
I gave my grandmother a "Between you and me journal" and she gave it back to me at Christmas this year. My grandmother is painfully quiet and rarely shares stories about life. The journal really was amazing the perfect gift for her. My dad says she's always been great about writing. She filled it with stories I had never heard, as well as pictures I had never seen! I was so thankful to be able to gain this glimpse into her life.
I gave a grandma journal to my mother in law. She was so tickled at Christmas that she cried...my girls are still very little, and she's really taking her time with all the questions. I'm expecting it to be a treasure that they'll have forever. Thank you so much!
I have and I love them!!!! =)
I discovered your website by accident one day.... I had already begun 5 seperate journals for my children and step children.. I love the other journals you have and hope to begin purchasing them soon, what a wonderful idea, I am so glad someone is taking the time to publish and put this out in the world... sharing our love for eachother is so important.
Teresa Carns
Pleasanton, CA
I've bought my mom one of the journals, for her to fill out for me, twice in the last three years. Unfortunately, her home burned to the ground shortly after I gave her the journals...once in 2005 and the other just last year. I'm planning on purchasing another for her birthday this year, hoping 3rd time's a charm!! I think this is a great idea and, in the future, will buy one for each of my children, as well as my husband.
Recently I gave one of your father journals to my daughter and her dad to use as he was dying. They appreciated having some conversation starters so he could share his memories with her even though he wasn't able to write anything down. Thanks.
I gave the journals to both my mother and grandmother. Both of them enjoyed taking the time to reflect on the various topics and share their thoughts with me. I couldn't wait until they had completed the books and were ready to return them to me. I cherish them so much that I keep them in a fireproof safe. They are lifetime treasures.
Shelly ( shelly_cook28@yahoo.com )
I bought two of the Honey journals almost a year ago and love them! My husband and I filled them out in the months before our wedding and then we exchanged journals on our wedding night. It was a wonderful experience and we both cherish everything that is written in our journals!
I bought the "Grandpa" journal back in June as a Father's Day present for my grandfather. He's a quiet, unassuming man so I thought it would be an interesting opportunity to learn a little about him, and in the process, my family and my history.
The book sat on a shelf, unopened, for six months. We never found time to sit down and to be honest, I was afraid that either my grandfather or I would feel awkward having such a personal conversation after over two decades of cordiality. I was also somewhat afraid that opening up my heart to my grandfather's experiences would lead to a seismic shift in my own perceptions, and I didn't know if I was quite ready for that.
Finally, around Christmas time, I came to visit my grandparents and noticed my grandfather looked older than ever. I realized that, perhaps morbidly, I didn't want to be sitting at his funeral with an untouched opportunity to know him. So I picked up the journal and decided what better day to start fresh with my grandfather than on New Years?
We started off at the kitchen counter, me asking him about his siblings and his childhood. Slowly but surely, everyone who was at his house that day started to accumulate around us. The realization dawned on us all that we didn't know a thing about the man who sat peacefully at the head of every table, the man whose hands built the houses that sheltered us, the man whose legs brought his family to a new country.
We sat and talked for eight hours that day - the most I have ever spoken to my grandfather before in my life. I learned exactly how proud we should all be of him, how far he came, how much he's endured. And I learned that this man was once my age, once had idealism and a rebellious streak. I learned things about him that will make my children beam.
I'm almost afraid to re-open the book now; I'm worried that my reading the words on the page will dull the memory of the interview I did on that day. It was such an intense experience for my whole family - I've ordered books for everyone now (including my grandmother, who spent the day of the interview hovering and chiming in and just dying to tell her own story) - and I cried so hard that day thinking that it took me 26 years to ask.
I have bought a couple of journals in the past and I'm thinking of buying another one for a friend's bday. He's going through a divorce and I think doing one for his girls might be therapeutic for him and give his girls a great keepsake.
I gave a journal to my grandparents on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary that coincided with a family reunion. We passed it around and all the extended family got to write in it and share memories of all of our different connections with them - it was wonderful and the at various points in the day it was great to see someone new always bending over the journal, recording a bit of family history for them and everyone else. Everyone loved it and I'm sure I'll be ordering more!
I was moving across the country and it was kind of tough because i was leaving my friends and family behind and before i left my grandma was diagnosed with alzheimers disease. She is still pretty sharp so I bought one for my gandma and one for my grandpa and i call them and fill it out with them on the phone! I love it!
andrea_artis@hotmail.com
I have given one to my Mom and Grandma and can't wait to get them back! I'd love to win one for my honey.
I gave the grandma and grandpa ones to my parents this year from my kids. I so hope they will fill them out for precious treasures for the kids when one day sadly their grandparents will not be around.
dtcokelovr@yahoo.com
I purchased one for my husband after the birth of our baby in 2005. I thought it would be a great way for him to share his life with our child and have everything written and saved for the life of our child and possibly their children.
Melissa
melissa@daveblack.net
gave one to grandma and am filling one out for the kids
i've bought two - one for each of my parents who are having a great time filling it out for my two tots. what a wonderful way to make memory saving so easy - love the idea and am planning on buying some different ones this year. hooray for 'between me and you'!
I have not used one, but I'm hoping to get two for me and my honey to exchange at our wedding and one for my parents and sister as thank you, wedding related gifts.
I came across these wonderful keepsakes back in 2004. I bought one for my husband to fill out for our daughter after the death of his brother. It helped him to open up about things that he would generally keep inside. He has asked me to buy two more for him to fill out for our 2 children that we have since added to our family. I also bought one for my mother in law.
Susie
mrsnavarro@msn.com
In middle school my best friend and I had a book like this. I forgot all about it until I read this. It's such a sweet idea, and I think I'll start doing this with my fiance. colorfulcarla@ gmail.com
I gave a between you and me journal to my sister last year. She filled in the questions and added colorful scrapbooking to every other page. It was a really fun thing to look through, i really got to see more of what she thinks about things, especially family. We've given some to other relatives and can't wait to get them back:)
I have given a between you and me journal to several people. My mom has become my closest friend these last years and she and I began this journal. I love the way I am finding out so many things I never knew about her before. I am so surprised at what her hopes and dreams were when she was growing up and it makes me feel so much closer to than I have ever been. I also gave one to my sister. We are 10 years apart in age and I left home to get married when she was still a little girl. I missed her growing up so our journal helps me to get to know the little girl of yesterday and young woman of today. I have just began one which will be one sided, my sided, 8 months ago. My first baby, a daughter, will be born next month. I have written in the journal about how long we have been wanting her, how each day brings a new day of joy and anticipation. I tell about how I cried when I felt her first kick and saw the sonogram. When she gets older, she will always know just how much I love her and someday, when she writes back, I will know all of her dreams and hopes.
I haven't given Between Me And You journals to my loved ones yet but would like to.
ms.lilyk@gmail.com
I haven't given any of these journals yet but they look amazing! I gave my grandmother (who is nearly 90) a calendar that is similar years ago and have really treasured reading her entries about how things were when she and my grandfather were young!