A Month in Africa

PROBLEM: 2 cameras with incorrect time stamps, 4000+ images on a thumb drive, a shopping bag full of: plane tickets, brochures, maps, postcards, luggage tags, receipts, napkins, business cards, menus ….

SOLUTION: “In 2008, my husband and I took the trip of our lifetime with our four children, who at the time ranged in ages from 7 to 23. It was a virtual miracle that we could carve out three whole weeks to be together, without the intrusion of careers, jobs, schools, teams … We traveled throughout southern Africa, visiting places we had only dreamed existed, meeting people whose lives are so different from ours, but whose dreams of peace, health, prosperity and good will for their children are the same as ours, reconnecting with each other as a family, and experiencing moments that cannot possibly ever be replicated by our family of six.

But, because of Martie’s guidance before the trip and her magical story-telling touch with the photos and memorabilia we brought back, we have “Africa 2008” — a tangible, amazing record constructed of photos, matchbooks, plane tickets, napkins, packets of soil, wine labels, scratched hand notes from new friends – you name it — that triggers wonderful memories of the smallest details of those three amazing weeks we spent together in another world.

With Africa 2008, and all the other beautiful books Martie has created for me – my daughter’s book for her college graduation gift, my son’s for his, the chronicle of our children’s baby pictures, school and team photos and Christmas cards through the years, the collection of my mother’s “box of memories” found in a closet after she passed away that is full of unknown faces from generations past that look just like my siblings, cousins and children, and many more such collections — I have a tangible history of my life and my family, and countless triggers of happy memories.

Thank you, Martie, for creating these invaluable books for us.”

Pam Sloan
Pelham, NY