Alice Koh
Editor

Am I glad this 3rd issue is on schedule! I started last week confident that this 3rd issue would be less hectic and more organized. I had time to redo some of the pages and learn to tweak it myself. My web developer must be so happy for me not bugging her everyday with questions. TheDailyScrapper Layout Artists team had been so quick to produce great layouts and quick pages for the Product Review and Budget Layouts sections. I am truly impressed and proud of them. Then this weekend started with my husband's computer suddenly crashing and wouldn't start. He was so busy being angry because he had just upgraded his computer. After endless hours with a computer

technician, they finally found the culprit - a high end motherboard which isn't compatible to Window Vista. We had to postpone our interviews with the designer and store owner several times.

Then, I received news that my uncle had been hospitalized. My sister told me to let her assess the situation when she visited him. The next day, she called to tell me not to worry, that even though my uncle was diagnosed with colon cancer, he seemed cheerful and eager to head home. I made plans to visit him after this issue is launched on Friday. It fit into my schedule very well since my dad and brother were also going to fly there to visit him over the weekend.

Two days later, my uncle passed away......

I beat myself up for not going to see him immediately. I had wanted my sister to tell me he was okay and for me not to fly back because I had so much to do here. I didn't know what to expect when I went for the funeral. As it turned out, it became a family gathering as most of us are living all over the country and abroad. We rejoiced over our uncle's life like he would have wanted us to, and I could imagine his booming voice laughing along with us. Two wedding invitations later, I flew back to resume

work on TheDailyScrapper. Joan Switalski's article in Scrapper World reminded me that I am not alone in feeling torn at times living in a different world from the home I have grown up in. We have to live with compromise meeting loved ones only once every 2 or 3 years because of the distance and cost involved to travel. At the end of the day, home is really where your heart is - with the family of your own.

Janet Nicklen's photo book gift for her son is very significant to me. It made me realizing how important my loved ones are. It also reminds me that while we scrap every day of our life, we do need to live it, to embrace life to the fullest.

I end here with a small prayer to my uncle and his family. I pray that the pain in my dad's heart over losing first his baby sister and now his brother will fade away. I hope to have more interactions with my relatives and unite again with a stronger bond that blood relations could have.

I thank everyone who has supported TheDailyScrapper and making this issue another successful publication.

Thank you,



Alice Koh

NOTE: special thanks to Leda Perry for grammatical correction.