henry
still speeding
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2005
- Messages
- 3,794
This goes back to about 1993, maybe 1994, not sure. Pretty much all since childhood I had been close friends with 2 brothers A and M; A being my age, M being 2 years older.
M had a kid unexpectedly, and there was a Christening. Afterwards there was a little party in their back garden, during which I met a relation of their family I hadnt met before, K, who was probably in her late 60s or early 70s and a great-aunt or similar to A and M. I particularly remember sitting next to this elderly lady all afternoon boozing, singing, having a rare old time of it, sat out in the garden. It wasnt that clear to me then, but the lady was suffering from a decline into senility that was already quite advanced. My strongest memories of that hazy day centred around our mutual cameraderie. I remember we really hit it off.
About 6 or 8 months later I next saw M and family who were then living in London. Being a bit of a beat I hitched down there to stay with him and his family the weekend. Whilst there we looked over some photos of the christening as he said he had a great shot of me and K, smashed out of our heads. It was a nice photo, and he told me that K had recently passed away (weeks, or a month or two prior?). He gave me the photo and I put it in my bag, thinking no more of it.
Now at some point on that hitch-hiking adventure, either before or after London, and Im not sure exactly where I was going or had been, I had had a strip of 4 passport photographs taken, either for a railcard or a pass of some description. These were also in my bag...
When I got back to Manchester I discovered the back of the strip of passport photos had stuck to the front of the photo of me and K. My flatmate at the time, D (white-trash, but he had a ouija board and a girlfriend who needed the back of her heel bones surgically shaved every few months to prevent bone growing out through the skin!) was there when I, thoroughly disappointed with myself at having got the photos stuck together, peeled the passports away to reveal a near-perfect heart shape where the chemicals had run on the photo of K and I.
Photo as given (is that Ant Jones from Grange Hill???):
I didnt jump to any conclusions (D did) and just kind of put it in my drawer and forgot about it. Over the years Ive come to regard it as a kind of message - it does embody a particular sentiment for me now. Ive shown this to a few friends with mixed reactions.
I kept the passport photos for a while, with the inverse image of the heart on the back, didnt use them until a few years later then they became part of a piece of art by a pal of mine, SuperIan. I saw him recently to ask for them back but hes not sure where it is etc etc. I do rue the day I handed them over, because at least that would rule out deliberate treatment of the photo.
Sadly am no longer in touch with A, M etc etc .
M had a kid unexpectedly, and there was a Christening. Afterwards there was a little party in their back garden, during which I met a relation of their family I hadnt met before, K, who was probably in her late 60s or early 70s and a great-aunt or similar to A and M. I particularly remember sitting next to this elderly lady all afternoon boozing, singing, having a rare old time of it, sat out in the garden. It wasnt that clear to me then, but the lady was suffering from a decline into senility that was already quite advanced. My strongest memories of that hazy day centred around our mutual cameraderie. I remember we really hit it off.
About 6 or 8 months later I next saw M and family who were then living in London. Being a bit of a beat I hitched down there to stay with him and his family the weekend. Whilst there we looked over some photos of the christening as he said he had a great shot of me and K, smashed out of our heads. It was a nice photo, and he told me that K had recently passed away (weeks, or a month or two prior?). He gave me the photo and I put it in my bag, thinking no more of it.
Now at some point on that hitch-hiking adventure, either before or after London, and Im not sure exactly where I was going or had been, I had had a strip of 4 passport photographs taken, either for a railcard or a pass of some description. These were also in my bag...
When I got back to Manchester I discovered the back of the strip of passport photos had stuck to the front of the photo of me and K. My flatmate at the time, D (white-trash, but he had a ouija board and a girlfriend who needed the back of her heel bones surgically shaved every few months to prevent bone growing out through the skin!) was there when I, thoroughly disappointed with myself at having got the photos stuck together, peeled the passports away to reveal a near-perfect heart shape where the chemicals had run on the photo of K and I.
Photo as given (is that Ant Jones from Grange Hill???):
I didnt jump to any conclusions (D did) and just kind of put it in my drawer and forgot about it. Over the years Ive come to regard it as a kind of message - it does embody a particular sentiment for me now. Ive shown this to a few friends with mixed reactions.
I kept the passport photos for a while, with the inverse image of the heart on the back, didnt use them until a few years later then they became part of a piece of art by a pal of mine, SuperIan. I saw him recently to ask for them back but hes not sure where it is etc etc. I do rue the day I handed them over, because at least that would rule out deliberate treatment of the photo.
Sadly am no longer in touch with A, M etc etc .
