Of Photo Books, Patience, and Passion

A Simple Task? Not Quite.

For the last two days, I’ve been knee-deep in creating an online photo book for my granddaughter, who just turned one. I’ve visited her every few months since she was born, always with a camera or phone in hand. Naturally, I ended up with hundreds of photos. I thought this would be a simple little project—drag and drop, click, done. Turns out, not quite!

No Templates, Please.

I wasn’t keen on using a predesigned format. I wanted it to feel personal, like something I created for her. That decision alone opened the door to hours of scrolling, selecting, arranging, and then rearranging again. On day one, I worked for nearly five hours. When I finally saved it to the basket, I thought I had finished. It looked good. At least, I thought it did.

Lo Behold, the Recheck.

Something told me to check it again before submitting. Experience has shown me that when I spend a few hours on a task, there’s usually a mistake hiding somewhere. I opened the draft again today and lo behold! There were errors. In fact, I had completely missed out on photos from my grandbaby’s first few months. Can you imagine? The early moments—those precious, sleepy newborn cuddles—had somehow been left out.

The cover page didn’t sit right with me either. It looked bland, not befitting a little girl who lights up our lives. So, back I went—digging through folders, pulling up backups, realigning pages, and adding the moments I’d missed. The book grew in size, but so did its soul.

The Perfect Cover and a Sweet Surprise.

Then came the moment I had been waiting for—I found the photo for the cover. The one that makes your heart melt and your eyes tear up all at once. The moment everything else faded into the background. Talk about patience and care—I really did pour my heart and soul into it. Finally, the book was ready. I uploaded it, added the extra pages, reformatted the sections that needed more love, and placed it into the cart. To my surprise, the final cost was lower than yesterday’s—thanks to a 20% discount that had just kicked in. Sometimes the universe has a sense of timing!

Lessons in Love and Motivation.

What a journey this turned out to be. I walked away with more than just a photo book in the making. I was reminded that this kind of work—emotional, creative, meaningful—is no easy feat. When you love someone, you go the extra mile, happily. Otherwise, it’s the kind of task that really should come with a price tag. I can actually see this as a career option too—helping others create something beautiful out of their memories.

Another lesson hit home: always revisit your work. Whether it’s a photo book, a decision, or a piece of writing—give it some time, then look at it again. Errors reveal themselves, better ideas surface, and sometimes, you even save money in the process.

Still Me, After All These Years.

What struck me the most was this little truth: I’m still the same. If I feel truly motivated, I’ll stay the course with passion and detail. If I’m not, I struggle to engage. Motivation, not ability, is often the missing piece—especially as we grow older. We don’t lose our capacity to do things, we lose the reason to do them. This little creative challenge, squeezed between meetings, meals, feeding Gibbs, and other small tasks, reminded me that age really is just a number. When the heart is involved, there’s no stopping us.

Now, about the house… it definitely needs some tender loving care. Maybe tomorrow.