A Day of Stories
Added 2022-10-12 07:47:11 +0000 UTCThis is a photo of my mum that’s been around in a photo album in our house for as long as I can remember. My brother shared it in the family group this morning as we talked about how we’re going to remember her today, and dad told us it’s a picture he took of her the day she moved in with him.
So there you go - in the garden of the ramshackle house I grew up in that I talk about in The Resistance - one of those days that marks a fork in the road. I feel lucky to have a photo of it.
I’m sad today because I know how much mum wanted to be a grandmother - when I was sorting out her papers after she died, she mentioned it more than once in letters to friends. There’s an absence for Laser of this one person in the world who would have loved her so much.
I’ll have more stories to tell her about my mum than my dad had about his father, who died when he was 5, and even though I never met him, Dolek Friedenberg (alias Andrew Peter Fraser) is a big figure in my mind. [listen to Mythos for Dolek’s story] That’s reassuring to me - that I can build a pillar of memory and narrative that will be a decent tribute, and there will be an image of Lucy in my daughter’s mind, that will include this photograph of the day she moved in and began to build the life that made space for her daughter and her daughter’s daughter in the world.
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Comments
My sister is 37 weeks pregnant and our mum’s 5 year anniversary is on Monday, so I’m really hopeful we can tell the baby lots of good stories. I know that being a grandmother was something she was very sad to be missing out on. She wanted to know our kids better than we knew her parents. I’m determined they’ll know something (or she will if she’s the only one and remains a she) Hope your day as gone well. Thank you for sharing as always xx
2022-10-12 17:10:41 +0000 UTCThank you for sharing this story about your mother. I'm honored to be one of the people who knows about her. xoxo
2022-10-12 16:54:51 +0000 UTCI have a similar set of feelings about my stepfather. He died a full 3.5 years before my son was born and my son will never know this person that was pivotal in making me who I am. My only real solace is pictures and videos I do have of him that we can share. He probably doesn’t understand yet (he’s only 2) but I hope one day he comes and asks me to tell him a bit about “pop-pop” and what he was like. That you have this photo is a remarkable first step in making sure future generations know who your mom was/is and what she means to you.
Mitch SuperKnot
2022-10-12 16:12:01 +0000 UTCVery sorry for your loss Alice.
2022-10-12 09:08:29 +0000 UTCStories are central to who we are and you tell good stories - Laser couldn't want for a better foundation
Tim Parsons
2022-10-12 08:57:30 +0000 UTC
