My 3rd batch of postcards turned up during the week. Whilst choosing the images to use I was really pleased I’d photographed/blogged about the previous 2 sets as I’ve used some of these images in so many different ways (photo books, chapters for her storybook, postcards) that they are now very familiar and I can’t remember what went where.

Postcards batch 3

Photos are:
* Top row (left to right): Mum, me and Grandma in Bridlington; Mum, Me and Grandma in Hornsea * Next row down: Mum, me and Grandma on Bridlington beach; Mum and her work colleagues; Mum on the ferry to Norway; Mum at school (she’s on the front row, 3rd from the left with her coat covering her grazed knees)
* Next row down: Mum, Grandma and Grandad in Yorkshire somewhere; Grandma, Me and Mum in the house; Anne, Mum and I in the Lakes; Mum, me and Dad in a pub garden in Acton the day they met Richard for the first time
* Next row down: Mum somewhere abroad; Grandma, Grandad and Mum; Mum in Austria; Mum and me in the Lake District
* Bottom row: Dad and Mum in Paris on Mum’s birthday; Mum in the MD she was PA to’s office; Mum ready for netball; Mum at church with the kneeler she made for the MU’s 60th anniversary; Mum dressed as a fairy for a church music hall production; Me and Mum on Bridlington beach

This time I’ve gone for all photos that depict Mum at one age or another, with different people or alone. Ones with Mum in are the ones that have engaged the staff the most, and that can only be a good thing. Also these tend to be the easiest ones to weave a story around for me when writing to her as well. I still write one most weekends. They don’t always make it to her cork-board, so I’m not sure whether they all arrive and get lost somewhere in the home or go missing in the postal system. There is also now an overflow, far too many to stay pinned up, so some are in the drawer next to her bed. If she is on bed rest when I visit, then I’ll sometimes swap them all around and refresh the display, changing which are most prominent etc.

I was talking with a friend yesterday about the 30yearsagotoday project (she follows it on twitter), and explaining some of the behind the scenes stuff, the context, the bigger picture stuff that will be revealed over time, but that I know because I remember it. She said something that was really interesting, that I hadn’t really appreciated and that I find quite delightful and a little moving. She said that she feels she knows me a little bit better as a result of reading these little snippets of my family life 30 years ago, little bits of everyday life that she wouldn’t otherwise know. I’m fortunate enough to have met her Mum, and so I’ve heard stories about her and her childhood from her Mum. Whilst she is more than welcome to meet my Mum, she wouldn’t gain any insight into my upbringing, of what I did as a child from it. Mum can’t communicate like that any more. So it’s interesting that what started out as a project to give me a bit of my Mum back, even if it is the 30 years ago version, has benefitted me in other ways as well.