And it's baaaaack. It's been a long while since I did a Throwback Thursday and that's because all around this house we have loads of photos but they are dotted all around and the ones I can get my hand on, I've shared the ones I have wanted to share with you. But the other day, my Mum was cleaning the house and I found some more that I wanted to share. These all have a story and I hope you enjoy the photos as much as my memories.
This picture comes from when we went to Africa, Gambia when I was only 8 years old or so. Mum and Dad took a massive risk going to Africa with six small children, especially given the fact there were 5 girls under the age of 15. There were many of times when we were all a little bit separated with Mum and Dad only having four hands to keep hold of us all. They made great friends with a couple of people who helped keep an eye on us all. That didn't stop plenty of the locals asking to marry us, even though we were only 10 or so and Mum and Dad having to pull us away before they did anything with us. It was quite scary but such an amazing experience.
All the people there were lovely and the hotel staff became our friends. In fact, for a year after we went on holiday, we kept in touch with one of the hotel staff and he had come to our last meal in Gambia to say goodbye. We even sent him a Christmas card and I think, if my memory serves me rightly, he sent us one back from Gambia.
Whilst we were there, I went on my very first camel ride. In the picture I am on the second camel on the left. Look how tiny I looked with it. Unfortunately, I hated the camel ride. I didn't like the camel going up and down and I also don't think I liked being suspended above the camel. It was a very weird feeling and although the camels were lovely and well trained, it still scared me. At one point, I was crying too much that one of the men from the trips had to walk with me because I wanted to get off the camel so much. It was lovely to walk along the beach on the camels, we then had a BBQ on the beach, fed the camels some watermelon and then travelled back on them.
Africa was such an amazing experience and even now, I still remember loads from the holiday. Probably one of the most memorable ones even though I was only 8 years old. It was such an eye-opener seeing how different they lived and how poor they all were. Poor to the extent that the children couldn't go to school because they couldn't afford a single pen or a piece of paper. It was seriously heartbreaking and I hope that The Gambia is now a little bit wealthier and that they have so much better lifestyles. We can hope that one day, poverty won't exist and people will have much more to their lives than they do now.
Now, this picture is a little bit off topic in terms of my two previous pictures, but it would have been my Grandad's birthday tomorrow or the day after (his birthday was on 29th Feb and so some of us celebrated it on 28th Feb and some 1st March because otherwise he didn't have a birthday) and I miss him terribly. It's also nearly a year since he died and I found this picture the other day and it made me smile. I never knew my Grandad in this way because by the time I was born, he had had his strokes and was a completely different man but this is a picture from my Mum's wedding day. It makes me so happy to see this picture of my Mum and my Nan and Grandad. They all look so happy and well. It makes me hope that somewhere up in Heaven, my Nan and Grandad are back to their best selves. Back to being happy and healthy.
I miss them everyday and the markers of them not being here are so prominent in life and I just wish they were here again. My life isn't' complete without them.
I hope you have enjoyed the return of Throwback Thursday. If you did, let me know in the comments. I love you all
xxx
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