Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee,
Whether summer clothe the general earth
With greeness, or the redbreast sit and sing
Betwixt the tufts of snow on the bare branch
Of mossy apple-tree, while the nigh thatch
Smokes in the sun-thaw; whether the eave-drops fall
Heard only in the trances of the blast,
Or if the secret ministry of frost
Shall hang them up in silent icicles,
Quietly shining to the quiet Moon.



Friday, June 05, 2009

The 18th Photo!



Derrick from Melrose Musings has tagged me to go to the 18th photo of the 18th folder in my files and tell the story behind it - apparently the meme started off as the 6th photo of the 6th file but it seems that there is a degree of superstition attached to the number 6 which I must investigate later. My husband spent a lot of the winter of 2007 scanning all our family photos, from the late 1800s up until the advent of my digital camera, into my computer and these are all in folder number 18. The photo is a family group taken in our garden in 1988 and left to right are my husband, my Uncle Vic, Aunty May, elder son Stephen aged 15 with daughter Juliette aged 8 in front of him, me and my younger son Neil aged 13.
My Uncle Vic was a Norfolk man and early in WW2 he was stationed in my home town of Macclesfield, Cheshire with the RAMC. There he met May, one of my dad's younger sisters and they fell in love. Soon he was shipped out to the Far East and after the fall of Singapore in February 1942 he became a Japanese prisoner of war. He managed to survive these dreadful years with the help of a small leather wallet containing a photograph of the girl he'd left behind which he managed to keep hidden from the Japanese guards. He was finally repatriated back to the UK in late 1945 weighing just 6 stones (84 pounds). He came straight to Macclesfield to the girl who had been his reason to struggle on and survive and in April 1946 he married her and took her back to live in his home county of Norfolk. They celebrated their Diamond Wedding in 2006 and in August 2007 Uncle Vic died at the age of 87. Aunty May is still going strong and will be 89 in August.
So really this is a cheat as the photograph wasn't taken by me at all but by my Uncle David, it brought back some happy memories though even if it wasn't quite according to specifications. I'm not passing this on to 6 other people but please feel free to do this meme if you want to, you may well find that it brings back some good memories for you too.

15 comments:

PAT said...

Rowan this photo is wonderful. I'm so happy this is the one you included and I love the story you told!

Beautiful post!

Anonymous said...

That really is a wonderful story about Uncle Vic and Aunty May, Rowan.
It was a privilege to read it. Thanks.

Unknown said...

Hello Rowan,

What a lovely photograph. And I don't think anyone will be worried about it being a "cheat"! Your uncle was a fortunate man. It is particularly appropriate as we remember aspects of WWII this weekend. It is so strange that there will be some gentlemen at 100 years of age at the commemorations, when some of their colleagues fell at 18 and 19 - my uncle being one of them.

I am also trying to scan photographs into the computer, though not from so long ago!

Thank you for joining in.

Thimbleanna said...

What a great picture. I enjoyed reading the story about your aunt and uncle Rowan. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Hollace said...

What an amazing story of your Uncle Vic and Aunt May's courtship and life-long love. I'm so glad they had 60 years together! I just read another blog, Everything Stops for Tea, that had a YouTube interview with 2 British heroes from D-Day. What a timely invitation your meme was!

Lynda (Granny K) said...

What a lovely picture, enjoyed and the story behind it, too.

Diane said...

What a heartwarming love story. Many thanks for sharing.

laoi gaul~williams said...

that really is a wonderful story rowan thank you so much for it and that it had a happy ending :)

Rosie said...

Great photo - lovely story:) My father was in the RAMC. I wonder what the superstition about no 6 is?

Janet said...

Wonderful family photo! And I'm glad the story about Uncle Vic had a happy ending and he got the girl!

Rowan said...

The number 666 -- the "number of the beast," according to the Book of Revelation -- conjures devilish images for many, so forecasts of evil, even doom, are rampant regarding dates or places where the number occurs, including next Tuesday, June 6, or 6-6-06. I've taken that lock, stock and barrel from 'Science Daily's website.

Wanda..... said...

I've been enjoying some of your past posts Rowan...

and I wonder too if the "Grizzled Scribe" will be able to identify the insect! Hope so...I have tried and failed.

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Elizabeth Rhiannon said...

Please forgive my late-ness in commenting. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading the post. I never tire of hearing about peoples lives, so interesting, thank you :) ~ER~

hippymummy said...

Lovely story Rowan, it's always nice to hear one with a happy ending. Hope you and yours're keeping well, take care xXx