It’s DONE!! My special book was ordered thirty minutes ago.

The pages of the book are golden because of the time and effort I spent creating, editing, and re-editing each one. I am talking about the fact that I just ordered my 12-inch x 12-inch Shutterfly book. It cost me $118 but, since that comes to just about a dollar per page, it doesn’t sound too bad.

The labor of love was in choosing and editing the photos, and then arranging the typeface for the comments, which included facts, family stories, and other tidbits of information that I found interesting.

I was in charge. I was the author, editor and, even though Shutterfly puts the book on paper and binds it, I was the publisher.

I loved each stage of my 100-plus hours of creation, equal to about three weeks of work on the book.

The Photos: The most fun here was deciding which photos to make larger, which to make smaller. I placed photos in categories that were noted in the Table of Contents section: e.g., Joseph, Joseph’s Siblings, and Joseph’s Maternal Grandparents. Within each category I didn’t really spend much time deciding on where to put the pictures. I decided that it would be interesting to place the photos randomly. I suppose that if I wanted to spend an extra 100 hours on the project, I could have arranged the photos chronologically, or in some other systematic order.

The Comments: The most fun here was deciding to be myself, since I am the author. I made factual historical comments, of course, but I also made many comments from my heart. I told the reader who would look at photos of my great-grandfather that he bounced me on his knee saying “Oom-pa-pa,” and that the reader could access the enclosed DVD to see that bouncing in action, by viewing the 16mm movies that my dad took 65 years ago.

Will I make more Shutterfly books? Not if I want to make really big ones, because Shutterfly limits you to 111 pages. However, I would like to make somewhat smaller books of my wedding photos, of my kids, and of me. But first, I’ll rest a few years!

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com.