Being stuck at home the last three weeks mostly on my own has been a bit of a blessing and a curse. The rest has been nice, and a welcome change of pace from the mad whirl of the last 17 months. Looking back, it doesn't seem like I stopped to draw breath for much of the time since Sue died. Having this much time mostly to myself has also forced a lot more introspection than I'm accustomed to, which can be a bit difficult at times, hence the curse part.
The past week especially, add in the plane crash in Amsterdam and on a more personal level, the fact that I finally took a look at the photos copied from slides that an old college friend sent me this past Christmas from 1977 - particularly shots of Sue and I before we were married, it's been a lot to deal with. Many of the photos are intimately familiar, as we used to have slide shows and reminisce every time we got together for much of the 80s and 90s. Having these reminders permanently on my hard drive has been wonderful, albeit a bit tear-jerking.
Here's a lovely perky one of Sue from the year before we were married:
This one is somewhat unusual, as Sue hated to have her picture taken, and 99% of the time would hide. On this particular occasion she decided to pull the most fake smile she could manage, but it just turned out sort of cute.
My friend was very much into natural light shots, and this next one was sort of the definitive romantic shot of Sue and I from that era:
The warm, out of focus feel to it just made it all the more special, I think. Then there was the classic beach silhouette shot at Blackpool:
The wide flared trousers show up particularly well on Sue, and the handbag...
Meantime, for a picture that reminds me of what it used to be like to be 147 lbs...
The weight loss program is going pretty well, but I'm not quite half way to getting back to that weight...
One last shot, from a mystery train trip that ended up in Bognor Regis - a scene of relatively domestic tranquility - Sue and I reading and chatting on the train:
Sigh...
