Nostalgia

I have been allowed to take my Great Aunty Rose's wedding album home to scan the photos. I know that my other AUnty Rose (who is grrrrreat, but not in age!) has already done some as well.

It is a great honour to be trusted with them, because they are especially precious to her, as her husband, Uncle "Lofty", died 34/35 years ago, when I was around 3 (before my brother was born if my account serves me correctly).

I have one very vague memory of Lofty, which for years I was convinced I had imagined. But very recently I had a conversation with my Nana and Rose (they are sisters) and by chance, Rose related a story to me about me meeting Lofty and described to me the situation that I had stored somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind. That's some memory, because I was still a wee'un.

Seeing old family photos fills me with so many emotions and questions. I want to know about who the people are in the images. I have to ask questions because one day, the sources of the answers are not going to be here anymore. I want to be able to tell James about these people who have gone before him. It is fantastic to see my own grandparents in these photos, looking young, dapper and with a twinkle in their eyes. To see my mum, as a bridesmaid of probably only 4 or 5 years old (Val and David not having arrived yet), looking like a proper little madam. My great grandma is there - a woman who I remember from my childhood, but remember more for her circumstances and demeanour, rather than any great interaction with her - it wasn't until I was much older that I found out that the lady I remembered sitting in her chair in the corner of the room, with a blanket over her legs, was very very ill, dying from the effects of breast cancer.

My Great Aunty Rose is a wonderfully eccentric, kind hearted woman, who hoards things not befitting of her age (teddy bears, handbags, DVDs), who dotes on the children and grandchildren and greatgrandchildren in the family and who rarely asks for anything.

She never moved on from Uncle Lofty. I think, from the photos, I can see why. She glowed that day. Lofty was clearly overjoyed too. I know in my own heart that a love like that would difficult to follow - I think I would rather not try if it had been me that lost that love all those years ago.

So, lovely family, that's your overly sentimental daughter / sister / niece / wife, reflecting on another strand of her wondrous extended family. Bonkers-ness, eccentricity, generosity, an ability to drive each other completely up the wall, but with love in abundance despite the trials that life throws at us. You're all wonderful and I am very lucky.

xx