The Mask: Life with Fragrance Allergy and Sensitivity

A girl wearing a yellow mask to protect against fragrance allergy and sensitivity
~ Megan

Let’s make one thing clear out of the gate: I hate wearing this stupid mask. But because I have a fragrance allergy and sensitivity, and my lungs are so sensitive to air quality–I wear it. The mask helps filter out them out. I currently have a Cambridge mask and it supposed to help filter out germs too. I’ve previously used a Vogmask, but it uses coconut fiber in the filter, and I’m allergic to coconut, so I switched.

a girl wearing black glasses and a blue face mask that covers her nose and mouth to protect against fragrance allergy and sensitivity
My current Cambridge mask. I don’t know why I always make this face when I take a photo while wearing a mask. hahaha

I don’t mind if people ask about it. Maybe if I act confident wearing it, it won’t be such a novelty and people won’t stare as much or notice or care that I’m wearing it. And maybe it will help them be a little more compassionate when they come across someone else wearing one. Or maybe it will help someone else wearing one feel a little less alone. I live in a culture where masks are really weird. I’ve definitely gotten excited when I saw another person on an airplane wearing a mask. I wanted to go talk to him and say, “Buddy, I get it. You are not alone. And neither am I.” Because I am so socially inept and awkward and we were playing sardines in a packed airplane, I didn’t. But I thought it and sent the vibes to him. I’m totally sure he felt it. hahaha.

What I’m Asked the Most

“Are you protecting me or yourself? / Are you contagious?” is probably the most asked question I get. And I just love it when it’s shouted across a store at me (that’s a true story). Uh. I’m protecting myself. Because you, madam, are stinky with your sickly sweet perfume. Gag. Because the world seems to be OBSESSED with making everything fragranced! Why do stores need “signature smells?” Or why do we need scented toilet paper?! Or pumpkin spice latte scented pinecones?!?! I think Oprah gave every store in the US diffusers and essential oils. I’m getting a headache just thinking about it. And yes, essential oils are included in this stinky group. Just because something is “natural” or “organic” doesn’t mean I can’t be allergic to it.

And I do understand the contagious concern. As someone who is on immunosuppressants and has a Primary Immunodeficiency, I also want to avoid sick people–which the mask also helps protect against. But perhaps shouting the question is not the best approach?

What Fragrances and Chemicals do to Me

I realize that I am unusual in how I react. Exposure to scents and chemicals makes me dizzy, give me a headache, make my heart beat weird, can cause GI distress, nausea, make me itchy, my throat can swell, and I swing between too hot and too cold. My eyes get runny and I get congested and anxious, and they impact my breathing. This can be mild or severe. If it’s severe, it can wipe me out for days. It’s so frustrating. Fortunately, I haven’t anaphylacted to a scent or chemical yet, but it’s certainly a possibility.

I’m super sensitive to Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs). I have to let furniture and paint air out before I can be around it. My office was completely renovated this year with all new paint, wallpaper (that has adhesive), carpet (that also has adhesive), furniture, plastics, tile (that has adhesive and grout), fabrics. Formaldehyde is one of the VOCs released. Yeah, the one used to embalm people and what your 8th-grade frog was soaked in before you dissected it. Remember that smell? It makes me so, so sick. I couldn’t move in when everyone else did because the VOCs made me so sick. It’s been months and, despite a hard-working air purifier, I still often get headaches by the end of the day being around it all day.

I actually do better with outside air pollution than with inside air pollution. If it’s a clear day and the air is fairly clear, and there’s no smoker nearby. lol.

Scents Affect Healthy People Too

There’s also data to show that there is a longterm negative impact of “scent pollution” on the general public, especially those that have asthma or other breathing difficulties. According to a 2018 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration article, “Emissions from volatile chemical products like perfumes, paints and other scented consumer items now rival vehicles as a pollution source in greater Los Angeles, according to a surprising new NOAA-led study.”

The actual study, published in Science, states, “… the use of volatile chemical products (VCPs)—including pesticides, coatings, printing inks, adhesives, cleaning agents, and personal care products—now constitutes half of fossil fuel Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs) emissions in industrialized cities. The high fraction of VCP emissions is consistent with observed urban outdoor and indoor air measurements.”

In 2016, the National Institute of Health published this study, which reported, “Results from this study provide strong evidence that fragranced products can trigger adverse health effects in the general population. The study also indicates that reducing exposure to fragranced products, such as through fragrance-free policies, can provide cost-effective and relatively simple ways to reduce risks and improve air quality and health.”

How I Help Myself

Because there is such a heavy prevalence of fragrances and chemical smells in the world, I tend to avoid going out in public as much as possible now. Life is much easier for me, and I am much less reactive when I can stay in my fragrance-free home. Ordering my groceries online and picking them up in my car has revolutionized my life. And I know there are lots of opinions on Amazon–but it makes this allergy-prone girl’s life so.much.easier!

a girl with a blue face mask hanging off her ear. She is making a funny face with her lips.
On an airplane and the guy next to me got a panicked look when he realized he was going to have to sit next to a person wearing a mask. I quickly leaned over and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not contagious.” He visibly relaxed. This happens almost every flight. One perk of the mask was that it covered up my super fat lip from a cold sore.

When I do venture out, I often resort to wearing a mask in public, sometimes at work, and almost always at Church, or in crowds.

Yes, I get a lot of looks. And a lot of avoiding. People work really hard to avoid me. It’s usually really obvious too. It’s a little hurtful sometimes, especially at Church. Sometimes it’s okay because I justify their actions with a thought that they were probably drowning in some Bath and Body Works product that would likely want to torture me, so it’s okay that they took one look at me and hurridly, awkwardly, turned around and walked the other direction.

Here are a few of the experiences I’ve had because of wearing my mask.

Story #1

An older lady and I were in the same fabric aisle at a craft store. I’ll call her “Maude” in this story. I was stopped in the aisle checking my phone, minding my own business, and wearing my mask. Maude came into the aisle and checked a few bolts of fabric then noticed me. I noticed her right away. Older women tend to be heavy-handed with perfume and I usually avoid such individuals. I started moving down the aisle and she stopped me and politely asked if she could ask about my mask. It was so nice of her to ask permission! She seemed nice enough, and I didn’t detect any heavy perfume. And I’m happy to raise awareness. I kindly explained that I have fragrance allergy and sensitivity and the mask helps protect me. I usually keep explanations simple. People usually don’t want to hear the whole story.

“Oh! That sounds awful,” she said.
“It can be,” I said, with a smile that she couldn’t really see behind the mask. I started to move on, thinking our exchange was over.
“What kind of treatment do you get? Are you on medication?” she asked. Oh dear. Here we go. It felt like she had an agenda.

Now let me pause here and say this: No one needs to disclose their health issues to anyone unless they want to. There is no reason this stranger needed to know my situation, and I did not feel pressured to tell her. But I thought this could be a good moment to raise awareness, and I was feeling gracious. I do believe in raising awareness for MCAS and I have found that sometimes when I have talked about it, I have been able to help someone else find answers they were looking for. Wearing my mask has provided several of these types of opportunities. Perhaps this was another one?

“Yes. My scent sensitivity is actually a symptom of a rare disease that makes me allergic to anything at any time,” I replied.
“How does that work?” she asked.
I was surprised. Most people don’t care about the details. I briefly explained that a type of immune cell likes to frequently and randomly misbehave. And when it does, I have a reaction.
“Oh my! Do you have a doctor?”
“Yes, I have a whole team of doctors and they are doing their best to help. I’ve very lucky to have them.” I moved to walk away again, but I had to walk past her, so she kept asking questions.
“Have you ever been to a chiropractor? I know an excellent one. He really helped me. I’m sure he could fix your problem.”

And there it was.

She started to pull a small stack of business cards out of her purse. Who carries a stack of a chiropractor’s business cards around? I imagined the chiropractor was probably her son. I resisted rolling my eyes.
“Oh, no thank you. I’m very happy with my doctors. It’s a rare disease that is very difficult to treat,” I said, trying to move away.
“He’s very good and certainly could help you,” Maude said a little too earnestly.
I put up my hand to stop her. “That’s very kind of you, but I don’t need a chiropractor. There is no cure for my condition. But thank you anyway. I hope you have a lovely day!” And I walked away. And avoided her the rest of my time in the store.

A chiropractor, while helpful for some things, is not going to fix a problem with my cells exploding and flooding my body with chemicals. But thanks for playing! Better luck next time!

“Maude” was very nice. I could tell she was trying to be helpful, so I was polite and answered some questions. But she also was trying to give me something I wasn’t asking for, so I politely ended the conversation and walked away.

Story #2
a girl wearing black glasses and a yellow face mask that covers her nose and mouth
Wearing my “pig” mask. 🙄🙄

This took place in a store on a different day, sometime in the early summer.
I walked around a corner and another shopper lady looked up and noticed me and I looked away, but I could see she was watching me out of the corner of my eye. I turned around walked down a different aisle and continued my shopping. She kept showing up (was she following me?). I noticed every time she saw me she would giggle to herself. It was weird.
By this point, I wore my mask so much that I kind of forgot that I was wearing it.
Finally, she came around a corner and stopped me and said, “Ohhhh, it has air holes!” (she was referring to the vents) and then started laughing out loud.
I was so confused.

Just as I was about to walk away, she stopped laughing and finally explained. “I saw you wearing the mask and thought it was a pig snout and that you were wearing it to be funny. I just had to stop you so I could get a look at it and see what you were wearing!” Laughter continued.
Apparently I wasn’t in the mood to laugh at the moment because I just stared at her. I finally said, “It helps me breathe.” Why the heck would I be wearing a pig snout mask to a craft store in the summertime?!
“Well, it looks like a pig snout!” Cue more laughter.
I turned around and walked away. I saw her once more before I left and she giggled to herself.

Way to go lady. Thank you for making me feel more self-conscious about wearing a mask in public. 🙄🙄

The above stories are certainly the two most obnoxious experiences I’ve had. Most people are polite, or at least keep their obnoxious thoughts to themselves and just avoid me.

Story #3

Once in a doctor’s waiting room, a little girl loudly whispered to her mom, while clearly pointing at me, “Mom, why is that lady wearing a thing on her face?” The mom looked up in alarm and glanced at me. I looked up and caught her eye and smiled. I was amused. She quickly shushed her daughter and didn’t answer her and attempted to distract her.

Worried that shushing the curious little girl would make her think that the mask is something to be ashamed of, or think that asking questions was bad, I decided to take the moment to share. (Obviously, I realize that the mom knows her daughter best and has the right to teach her the way she wants, but this was a benign situation and I thought I might be able to help make it a little less awkward. And I think it’s okay for kids to be curious about their world.)

“The mask helps me breathe better,” I explained simply.

a girl wearing black glasses and a blue face mask that covers her nose and mouth
After the pig incident, I bought a blue mask. I didn’t want any more pig comments.

“Oh, okay” the little girl smiled and kept playing with her toy. The mom smiled at me. I turned back to my phone to keep reading my book.

A minute or two later, another lady sitting nearby piped up, “Sorry, I just have to ask. How does the mask help?”

I took a minute or two to simply explain my scent allergy and sensitivity and how the mask helps. Hopefully leaving everyone listening aware of the impact their choices to wear perfume or heavily scent their laundry, etc., has on those around them.

How You Can Help

If you want to help people with fragrance allergy and sensitivity…maybe try to stop wearing scented lotions or heavy perfumes? Switch to fragrance-free laundry soap? I use All Free and Clear. It’s cheaper than my old brand and doesn’t make me break out in hives. Win-win!

Be aware that your fragrance choices affect everyone you come in contact with.

I don’t expect the world, or even the people around me, to accommodate my unique set of issues and fragrance allergy and sensitivity (except at work, where they have to). It’s very difficult to do. But awareness and compassion would be greatly appreciated!

White Christmas Village

A white paper village sitting on a table
~ Megan ~ 2 Comments

Last year I made a pretty, white Tea Light Christmas village for my mom. She loved it. But it turned out much bigger than either of us expected–so there’s some question where she’s actually going to display it. 😂

The simple elegance of the white cardstock make the touches of green and red pop. I love it.

I just love the village all lit up!
How I Made It

I cut the houses using my trusty Silhouette Cameo. The houses are available on the Silhouette Design Store by artist Marji Roy. The designs are also available on her website in other formats if you don’t have a Silhouette. The village tutorials are here. They were pretty easy to put together–but the most time-consuming parts were adding the scallops to some of the roofs. The houses are about 4 inches square, and the hexagons are about 6 inches in diameter. As I said before, the project got bigger than I expected. No one that knows me is surprised. ha.

For the windows, I used vellum to give them a frosted glass effect. It hides the view of the light strand but lets the light shine through. For the Church, I gave the vellum windows a watercolor effect so it looks like stained glass.

The village includes:

  • 20 buildings,
  • a plethora of snow-covered trees,
  • a covered bridge,
  • fences and park benches,
  • gazebos,
  • a couple of moose,
  • a horse-drawn sleigh,
  • a TARDIS (haaa),
  • a little nativity scene (I cut off the button loops),
  • little nutcracker soldiers (also cut off the button loops),
  • and an ice skating rink.

I used white glitter on the roofs and the edges of the trees to look like fresh snow. The bows have red glitter added to them. I realized after that using red glitter cardstock would have been better. Adding red glitter to the bows after they were cut was messy!

The hexagon bases, also from the Artist’s website, are a great way to hide the lights and add dimension to the village. I used the tutorial on her website to set up the village. There’s a hole in each base that allows the strand of lights to be threaded up and into each house. Because I used bendable fairy lights, it was easy to feed the lights into each house.

Supplies used:

This was such a fun project to work on! I’m just enamored by this little (or not so little) white Christmas village. I’m tempted to make a slightly smaller version for myself, but I still remember my hand cramping from all that gluing. 😂

“The Golden Ship” Paper Children’s Storybook

Cover of The Golden Ship Paper Children's Storybook
~ Megan

Awhile after I had made Margaret’s Butterflies and The Popcorn Farmer storybooks, some of my nieces and nephews wanted a paper children’s storybook featuring themselves. Well, of course, I’ll make them a book featuring them as the main characters!

So we started planning our story. The kids decided we were all pirates that searched for treasures and fought sharks. Obviously. We came up with hilarious pirate names: I am Captain Pink Beard, then there’s “Shark-Attack Sue,” “Two-Eyed Jack” who wore an eye patch (haaa), “Sharkbait” who has a pegleg, and “Horseshoe Harry” the good luck charm. The story is based on a game we play whenever we are together.

It was so fun to plan and put this book together. It was definitely more intense than the last two books I made! A lot more cutting! And a whole lot more glitter! Yaaas!

The Story
  • The cover of the book, featuring an overflowing treasure chest.
  • The Golden Ship, by Megan McGrath
  • The Flying Fish sailed swiftly through the sea. An adventure was happening that’s a guarantee. Captain Pink Beard ordered the crew to keep a lookout. She was hoping they were on a treasure route!
  • The crew consisted of four special pirates, Who all knew they were each the Captain’s favorite. The First Mate was Shark Attack Sue, Who defended the crew against all creatures in the great big blue.
  • Then there was Two-eyed Jack. He wore an eye patch. With a sword, he had a knack. No one was his match.
  • Next was a wee one they called Sharkbait, who now was missing a leg. All thanks to a shark they named Craig.
  • Then last, but certainly not least, was Horseshoe Harry. He was the Ship’s good luck charm–always as happy as a canary.
  • Suddenly, Shark Attack Sue yelled, while pointing at the horizon, “Look there, a bottle floating on the sea! I hope it’s not filled with poison!”
  • Two-eyed Jack fished the bottle out of the ocean. Said he, “Well, ‘tis not a bottle of lotion!”
  • Captain Pink Beard gave it a close inspection, and then made a loud clap. “Ye skallywags! This bottle contains a treasure map!”
  • So the crew sailed the Flying Fish to the small treasure island. The trip was much longer than they planned. All the while, the shark called Craig kept pace. Little human legs had become his preferred taste.
  • The ship set anchor in the island’s bay, They packed up their gear and headed down the gangway.
  • Captain Pink Beard led the crew through the jungle, Until they reached four rocks in the shape of a rectangle.
  • The crew dug, and dug and dug, and dug, until they heard a dull thud.
  • Crowns, and jewels, and pearls, and coins were passed all around. There was so much treasure in the ground!
  • Shark attack Sue yelled, “Hooray! We found the treasure!” Two-eyed Jack added, “Now we can live a life of leisure!”
  • Heaps of wealth were piled in the rowboat, weighing it down. They could not wait to spend the treasure in the next town.
  • Craig the Shark saw this as his invite. He raced up to little ol’ Sharkbait and tried to take a big, BIG bite.
  • Shark Attack Sue and Two-eyed Jack stepped into action. Beating Craig back till he hightailed it in a different direction.
  • Now with their foe defeated, and their treasure stores no longer depleted, They decorated the Flying Fish with gold and jewels that were beaded.
  • They sailed away in their golden ship shining and shimmering in the sun. And now this tale with pirates, sharks, and discovered gold is done. The End.
Some fun facts about the book:
  • It took so long to write the actual story! I love rhyming books and so I wanted this book to rhyme. Turns out it’s harder to do than it seems!
  • The waves are all glitter cardstock. I cut over 60 waves for this book. Whew. The waves were then inked along the edge with a darker blue ink to give them some depth.
  • The planks on the ship were all individually cut, inked, and glued in place. Easily the most time-consuming part! I even added little nail marks. Yes, it’s okay to roll your eyes.
  • I had to design the railing along the edge of the ship. It was a bit tricky to do the angled one so the ship had depth, like on page 1.
  • My favorite page is when the shark is trying to take a bite of Sharkbait. I think it’s such a funny page. I used the trace feature in the Silhouette Design Studio to create the shark.
  • The sunset on the last page is all inked in. I wish the shimmery ink translated better in the photos. The original is quite pretty.
  • Since this was such an imaginary story, I felt like I could go crazy with the gold foil, glitter, shimmer, and sparkle. Including the Pink Glitter Beard. 😂😂
Supplies Used:

The kids looove their story and we regularly play their special game and talk about the story often. I can’t wait till the rest of my nieces and nephew are a little older so I can make a special paper children’s storybook just for them.

Do you have a fun, special game or tradition in your family? How have you documented and recorded it?

The Popcorn Farmer Storybook

Page of The Popcorn Farmer Paper Children's Storybook
~ Megan

The Popcorn Farmer is the second family history paper children’s storybook I created. It is in honor of my maternal grandparents, Vern and Sybil Bryson. I grew up on their farm and loved it. Well, loved most of it. 😉 I knew the next generation really wouldn’t remember “Great Nana/Grand Nan” and Grandpa died before any of them were born. I really wanted them to be able to know a little about these wonderful and generous people.

The title comes from a beautiful tribute to Grandpa written by a family friend. Grandpa was an actual genius and did a lot of amazing things in his life, yet he found meaning and fulfillment being a farmer/rancher and growing produce, especially corn (soooo much corn!), that he and Nana shared with the community. Hence, he became “The Popcorn Farmer.”

The Story
  • Cover of The Popcorn Farmer, featuring large popped popcorn.
  • The Popcorn Farmer by Megan McGrath
  • Once a long time ago, a boy named Vern Bryson was born on a farm in Utah.
  • As Vern grew up he dreamed of being a farmer. He loved farming and farm animals. But Vern was also very, very smart. So he went to college at BYU and studied engineering.
  • While Vern was in college, World War II started. Vern was very brave and signed up to be a pilot in the Air Force.
  • Even though it was scary, Vern worked very hard and became a very good pilot and flew huge bomber planes all over Europe.
  • Vern was such a good pilot he tought other people how to be pilots.
  • He even received a special award called the Distinguished Flying Cross for being such a good pilot.
  • Vern met a beautiful, smart, and gifted musician named Sybil. They fell in love and soon married in the Salt Lake City, Utah Temple.
  • Vern and Sybil had five kids: Britt, Forest, Craig, Nadine, and Elaine.
  • When the war was over, Vern began working as an Aeronautical Engineer, helping to develop nuclear engines like those used in submarines.
  • Vern also worked to design better airplanes.
  • When Vern retired, the family moved to a farm in California. It was beautiful there. They had lots of horses, cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs.
  • But some of the best spots on the farm were the giant gardens and orchards.
  • There were all sorts of goodies growing in the gardens. Everything from beets and blackberries, to carrots, grapes, green beans, onnions, raspberries, strawberries, peaches and pumpkins, plums, peppers, and even zucchini.
  • There were so many kinds of fruits and vegetables!
  • But the best was the corn. There were rows and rows and rows of corn! Vern and Sybil’s grandkids loved to run and play hide and seek among all the rows of corn. The corn was so delicious! Sweet, delicious, golden corn on the cob.
  • Each year, Sybil would set aside special ears of corn to dry. When the corn kernels were all dry, they were ready to be cooked into popcorn!
  • Vern and Sybil always grew more fruits and vegetables than the family needed. They loved to load up the convertible with all the fresh produce and take it to church to give it away to everyone. But all the children’s favorite was the homegrown popcorn!
  • Vern and Sybil were kind and generous sharing their food, time, and energy helping all those they could.
  • So, whenever you eat popcorn, you can think of Grandpa Vern and Nana Sybil and their great example. The End.
Some fun facts about this book
  • The plane featured on Page 3-4 (with Europe) is actually one of the planes he flew. I used the trace feature in the Silhouette Design Studio program to create the cut file.
  • A photo of the actual medal that Vern received is shown on his uniform on page 6. I used the Print and Cut feature of the Silhouette Design Studio to cut this out. I also recreated his uniform insignias on his cap and uniform. Did you notice his little wings? So cute. 🙂
  • The diagram on Page 9 is actually a simplified diagram of a nuclear engine. The one Vern helped design! I used the pen adapter to have my Silhouette Cameo draw it. Such a fun detail to include.
  • The animals and fruits and vegetables depicted in the story were all actually grown and raised on the farm, but our barn was not red–it was boring metal gray ;).
  • Grandpa really did wear a straw cowboy hat and denim overalls almost every day of my childhood, usually with a white t-shirt.
  • The cover has several large popped popcorn kernels in the center photo spot.
  • My grandma, after seeing the book, heaved a sigh of relief and said, “I’m so glad that part of my life is over and I don’t have to can anymore.” Hahaha. Thanks, Nana? 😂😂
Supplies Used

I had so so much fun making “The Popcorn Farmer.” It meant so much to tell this story and share it with my family, especially my sweet Nana. And I love to read it to my sweet nieces and nephews.

Do you have a favorite family story? How can you share it with your family in a meaningful way?

Thanks for reading! xoxo

Check out two other stories I’ve written: “Margaret’s Butterflies” & “The Golden Ship“

Margaret’s Butterflies Storybook

Page of Margaret' Butterflies Paper Children's Storybook
~ Megan

I love family stories. As a child, being told family stories anchored and tied me to something bigger than myself. The stories told me who I was when I wasn’t sure how I fit into the world. They helped me navigate a really hard time. The most meaningful story to me was that of Margaret’s Butterflies. 

When I started having nieces and nephews, I knew I wanted them to have this same connection to our family that I had–that they were loved so much by so many that had come before them. And as a book lover, I thought making a cute storybook would be a way to share the story with them. 

The first storybook I wanted to make was was about Grandma Margaret Bryson. She’s my 4th Great Grandmother and a complete inspiration to me. I can’t wait to meet her on the other side of the veil.

This is part of her story
  • The cover of the book, featuring a pink butterfly.
  • Margaret’s Butterflies Retold by Megan McGrath
  • A long time ago there was a girl named Margaret.
  • She lived in a small time in Northern Ireland called Banbridge.
  • Margaret got married and had a baby boy named Sam. She was so happy. She loved her little boy so much.
  • Margaret’s husband, John, was in the army and never came home. This was hard for her to be all alone. But Margaret was strong and had faith in Heavenly Father so she raised Sam all by herself.
  • Sam grew up into a happy and handsome man. He also joined the army. This made Margaret sad. She worried he would never come home.
  • Whenever she would get worried, she would say a prayer to Heavenly Father. Then she would feel peaceful and that Sam was okay wherever he was.
  • One night when Margaret was feeling lonely and particularly worried about Sam, she said a prayer to Heavenly Father for extra peace in her heart. That night when she fell asleep, she had a very special dream.
  • In the dream, she was worried about Sam. Then one butterfly flew out of her heart.
  • Then two butterflies flew out
  • Then 20 butterflies flew out.
  • Then lots more butterflies flew out until there was too many to count.
  • Margaret woke up and knew the first butterfly was her boy Sam. The rest of the butterflies represented her grandchildren, great grandchildren all through the future generations. She loved all those little butterflies in her dream.
  • She didn’t know how so many butterflies would be her family, but she knew that Heavenly Father had given her this special dream as a gift. She had faith that He would fulfill this promise He had given her through her dream.
  • Whenever Margaret was feeling sad or lonely she thought of that dream and felt peace in her heart that Heavenly Father knew her and loved her.
  • Eventually Sam came home from the army and married a beautiful girl named Sarah. They had 11 children. Later Sam also married Isabella and they had 9 children. Margaret had 20 grandchildren.
  • Each of those grandchildren had children and grandchildren all the way down to you. You are one of those beautiful butterflies that Margaret dreamed about.
  • Margaret knew you and loved you a really long time ago–before your grandparents were even born.
  • Heavenly Father also knows and loves you. He will give you peace and comfort whenever you are scared and lonely, just like he did for Grandma Margaret.
  • Always remember you are one of Grandma Margaret’s butterflies. You have a family who loves you forever. And because Heavenly Father loves us so much, this isn’t The End of the story.

The original book is made of scrapbook paper scraps I had. Part of my goal with this project was to only use materials I already had on hand. Fortunately, I had my favorite tool to help me: my trusty Silhouette Cameo.

Supplies used:
How I Made the Book

To create a copy of the book, I took photos of the pages and uploaded them to Shutterfly and created an 8×8” photobook. You can see the finished photo book here, and even order a copy for yourself (no, I don’t get anything from the sale of the book from Shutterfly and make sure you look for a coupon, sometimes you can get the book for free and just pay shipping).

As I’ve shared this story with people, it’s been fun to “meet” cousins– other of Margaret’s butterflies– and be able to share this story with them. Some of them didn’t know about the events in the story. 

I’ve loved sharing this story with the next generation. My nieces and nephews have loved learning about their family and knowing how they fit into our family.

How can you learn and share stories about your ancestors?

Check out two other stories I’ve written: “The Popcorn Farmer” & “The Golden Ship”