Memories

I've recently decided to go through some our photograph albums. There's several of them in the hall, and so far, I've gone from 1992 (my birth year) up until sometime in 2008. Why? Well, there's one simple reason: memories. Photographs are so important for recalling memories of what happened in the past. The journey has been an interesting one, seeing how fashions have changed, seeing people as they have grown older, and seeing how they have changed. But they're also tinged with some sadness, especially when I see photos of my late grandparents (Mum's parents). Yes, we had lost the Grandad we knew in August 2007, despite him dying in February 2010, and Grandma suddenly dying two days after Dan and Louise's wedding. What makes it even more upsetting is that we have a photo of her that was taken the morning before she died, and it was probably the last photo anybody had of her when she was still alive. In a way, I suppose that's one way in which photographs are so important - they also help us remember people that we've lost over the years, people that we hold so closely to, people we don't want to let go.

A few months ago, I also watched all our old home videos, remembering even more about what life was like in years gone by. Many videos, many years, many memories. Home videos can be even more important than photos - they show us how we used to talk, how we used to act, as well as what we looked like. Memories are so precious to us, and if we don't take photos, record videos, and suchlike, how on earth are we going to be able to remember people? Photos and home videos are so vital in recalling those that we held dear to us that we cannot afford to lose them.

I'm alive - the car isn't!

Well, the time has come. I have had my first car accident. I hoped it would never come, but it did. I would like to re-iterate that I am fine, but I think that the car is a write-off.

I was on my way from St Dennis to Indian Queens to pick my brother up from work on Monday evening when it happened. I went round a corner, and the car suddenly went further to the right than I expected. I thought I had hit a patch of ice, and I decided that the best course of action to take would be to counter this by trying opposite lock. The car hit a metal barrier at the side of the road, span round a couple of times, before coming to rest in the middle of the road. I was a bit dazed and confused by what had just happened - who wouldn't be? Mercifully, the car was still on its wheels, and hadn't overturned, so I managed to get out of the car without any problems, before ringing my brother to let him know that I wouldn't be picking him up from work because I had, erm, crashed the car. During this, someone stopped to offer their assistance, for which I am very grateful. I then called the police, which was necessary, as the car was in the middle of the road, and there was debris over the road. Following this, I had to make the phone call to my parents informing them of what had happened. It wouldn't have been very easy for them to come and find me because they were in Leicester sorting through more of Mum's parents' things, including bringing down my Grandad's piano, which is now my mother's, as it was left to her in the will. I can't remember whether my brother and his boss arrived first or whether the police did, but I was so glad to see both sets of people! I felt even better when my brother and his wife arrived, but I must confess that I didn't call them. My other brother did. The fire brigade came to tow the car out of the middle of the road, before (I think) going to attend another incident about 200yds closer to St Dennis. There was also an accident somewhere on the A30 near Roche that night. Fun, fun, fun! What I thought was slightly strange was the fact that the policewoman who attended the accident didn't breathalyse me, whereas I thought that it was common practice to breathalyse anybody involved in a road accident if they were able to do so. For the record, though, I hadn't had a drop of alcohol all evening, and hadn't touched any since the day before New Year's Eve 2010, so it wouldn't have been a problem. I'm not complaining at all! We got everything out of the Micra before it was towed out of the middle of the road and before it was towed away. And after the breakdown truck arrived, we all went back home for hot chocolate, which I needed, I'm telling you!

Dad went to Bodmin today to try and do some shopping, and guess what? He found the Micra, and he hadn't seen how bad the damage was, so he took some photos and then showed them to me after he got back. Even now, it surprised me how much damage I had done to the car, and even more so that I had walked away from it with only a couple of bruises! I just guess that I'm a very lucky kid.