Just Thinking

 The end of this month will mark 20 years since Mom passed away.

I was looking through my photos to find some to put on here. I think I've used most of them already.

Just looking at them gave me a sense of wonder, of capturing a time, an emotion, an event that will never happen again.  Even if we revisit a place the experience will be different. 

The person I am today is totally different from the person I was when I came to Japan.  I wonder how much my Mom would have changed if she had lived.  I think she would still have a daft sense of humor. Christmas would still be a big thing for her.  She would still dote on her grandkids.  I wonder how she would have coped with the pandemic, would she have worried all the time.  (I actually wonder how anybody coped with the pandemic!).

with Alan and his mate

This was on holiday, end of the 1980s, maybe.  

Holiday in Wales

I was 15 or 16 here.    Nice quiet beach in South Wales.  One thing I remember was chasing Steve and Alan around the beach.  It was early in the year, the sea was grey but it was fun just to get away from school for a week.

Going to France

having an extension built

These are photos that Mom sent me.

The top one is on the ferry to France.  She wrote on the back "On the way to France, feeling sick"

On the bottom one she wrote "Showing off on the patio"

I'm glad that I have photos, they help me to recall things, people, places, and experiences. They make me happy and sad. I wish I had more photos of Mom.  But the ones I have I treasure.