How women have changed (and the power of photographs in leaving memories)

The image on the left is of my beautiful Mum, and my Granny Florrie, who was 77 in this photo. She died a couple of years later.

The image on the right is of my Mum at my son’s wedding in December 2017 at the age of 78. What a difference!

My Mum is healthy and trim, very mobile and stylish. I am so proud of her and thankfully this seems to be a trend. All the time we hear that 40 is the new 30, 50 is the new 40 and maybe now 80 is the new 65.

It’s true that my Granny had an incredibly difficult early life. My Grandad left her and my Mum to go to war. When he came home he was involved in a car accident in which he lost his leg which he allowed to ruin his life. He was a very unhappy man and made sure that everyone around him knew it. It must have been very hard for Florrie.

Still, it seems that we are all getting younger as we age. My mum need not worry about dying at 79 because that’s when her own Mum died. But I don’t think we will be seeing an equal shift in the next generation. If I look like my Mother when I’m 79 (if I get there) I would be very surprised (and happy).

Incidentally, this is the only photo I have of my Mum and Gran. It will be going into a new frame and hung on my wall where it belongs. Quite often photos are the only memories we have of our loved ones who have died. Make sure you are in photos so that you are not depriving your children and grandchildren of their memories of you. We owe that to them.

And if you don’t like having your photo taken, just write to me and I’ll give you some tips – completely free.