Record-keeper

I read a short profile the other day of Jaume Tapies, the chairman of Relais & Chateaux, a luxury hotel group. He travels the world checking on hundreds of properties and searching for new ones. What stood out to me about him is the fact that every single night he writes in a journal, recording what he did that day and who he met. "One day I'll look back and be able to trace this incredible history," he said, "but it also helps me remember where I've been."

Right after reading about Mr. Tapies, I read an article in Martha Stewart Living by David Neibart. Neibart is a dad who one day realized his children had nothing tangible to look at, the way he had a box of photos when he was little. His family's thousands of photographs were stored on the computer and rarely looked at. So he bought some journals and began to fill them with pictures and stories about what his kids did or funny things they said. His children look at the books all the time now, and if there ever was a fire, he said, these journals would be the first things he would grab.

I've always wished I was better about writing things down when they happen. I didn't finish a baby book for any of my children, and I never even started one for my youngest. Fortunately, my sister has made books for them, and I'm so grateful, but she lives across the country and (sadly!) misses the day-to-day stuff. Neibert said keeping his journals made him realize how much he otherwise would forget. I don't want to forget. So though I can't guarantee I'll stick with it, my resolution for spring is to be a better record-keeper, to remember where we've been.