Feeling the passing of time

I have only about a dozen photos of myself as a child and teenager. All the family photos were in albums and then in a huge plastic box at my late Mum’s house.

About a year before she died Mum asked me to sort out the whole box as there were a load of loose ones that needed sorting out. I brought them all back to mine and did just that. She had said if there were any I wanted I was to take them but I felt they were hers and it was a bit final. So I didn’t.

Sadly a family member let themselves into Mum’s house when she was in hospital and stole the whole lot plus her emergency cash and all her diaries which had been left to me in her Will.

The Police could do nothing, nor the Solicitor. I wrote to the family member 3 times but was ignored so I imagine they have all gone on their woodburner 😢 I am still heartbroken about it. I had some fabulous teenage photos and baby photos. All gone now.

I think we often don't recognise how old we are, you often hear older people saying they don't want to go somewhere because it is full of old people, or that they look so much older in photos. When it is often the case that if you sit in a group of older people you will blend in as one of them to an outsider looking in.

When you look at your face in a mirror you see no change in what you saw yesterday whereas in a photo you are seeing yourself as others do.

I agree that looking through old photos can make you feel mournful, remembering your past life and thinking of happy youthful days which are now long gone. But I think their value is more for future generations, who will look at them in amazement. Did grandma actually look like that, long blonde hair and a mini skirt?

I really think that photos and videos come into their own with the passing of time, and the longer the better. Therefore keep your photos safely and treasure them. Most importantly, write on the back names, dates and places otherwise in the future you will be 'strangers in a box'. I have lots of photos of ancestors from 50-150 years ago and they are fascinating, but one album turned up full of beautiful Victorian family photos and no-one had a clue who most of them were which is really sad.

Years ago an aunt told me she couldn't bear to look at old family photos. And I thought how odd that was.

These days I feel the same. They leave me feeling so sad. I am in my 70s and now older than some of the relations pictured. At 56 you are nowhere near old! Fashions worn in the past and hairstyles made people look much older than they were.