Old Stories Retold

A neighbour asked me to scan some old photographs of her mother as part of a collage that she was creating. After whipping them on the scanner and pulling them into Photoshop, they all received a hefty working over to make them presentable again. My learning curve with regard to retouching old damaged photographs was astronomical and yet I am just scratching the surface.

The reason this is all so exciting is because two albums filled with my grandfathers World War II pictures recently fell into my lap. Many of the pictures need lots of love and care, which all takes much precious time. I had been frightened to start, but now am thoroughly inspired.

Take a look at this picture, a postcard from the war. I am fascinated by the amount of detail, clarity, and sharpness in a photograph taken by somebody 70 years ago without any incredible digital interventions. Imagine getting this right in a war zone in the rain with big heavy equipment. And it tells a such an incredible story...

Old is Good

I had tea yesterday with the most interesting bunch of people. I laughed stacks. I heard a heap of true stories that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. And I ate two pieces of chocolate cake – my absolute favourite!

The average age of the people I met was on the far side of the 80’s. This was a group of elderly that had been rounded up by some caring people for an outing. The outing was a tea on a wine farm. Somehow I managed to sneak an invite even though my age profile was out by almost 50 years.

This outing was all about these old folk. Real people who get little attention and who have even less excitement in their lives! This was a big deal for them. Yet it was I who walked away on top of the world. Completely refreshed and rejuvenated.

There was lots of war talk, a period of history that fascinates me. Here I was listening to stories of people who had been there and survived it. More than that they had stories of the Great War that involved family and friends. Soon, the only way to learn about this stuff will be to read about it in a book!

I could not believe how interesting these people were and yet they are the ignored part of our society. Forgotten by the rest of us because we are so busy with our own lives! I really am surprised by how much I enjoyed the experience. I was there to help out and bring joy and comfort to their lives and ended up finding a piece of myself.

My future needs to involve more of this!!