Thursday 7 January 2010

Favourite photo meme

I have been tagged by Audrey Hepburn. Oh no, apparently it was Emily, over at Maternal Tales, but blimey she looks like Audrey Hepburn in her wedding photo. This is a lovely meme, started by Tara at Sticky Fingers who always has beautiful photos on her blog – she must have a fantastic camera, or just be really good at taking pictures, of course. It’s fairly simple, just pop up your favourite photo and say why it’s your favourite photo.

Well, actually, that’s quite difficult. I have a lot of favourite photos. As I was thinking about this meme, I realised that pretty much every photo I wanted to post was one with my dad in it. And that, I think, is one of the great things about photos. Of course, it’s lovely to capture beautiful landscapes and stunning monuments or breath-taking sunsets, but photographs of people are particularly special and really come into their own when those people are no longer with you. Which is why I’m putting these photos up…

I love this photo of my dad and mum on the beach. I think they look so young and carefree and happy, and rather cool, too.

This is a collage of three photos of my dad holding babies. I’ve put them in the wrong order and don’t have time to go and fix it, so… on the left he’s holding my sister, Eva, in the middle, he’s holding me and on the right he’s holding Rosemary. When we were putting together photos to show on the big screen at his wake, we noticed that his posture and look is pretty much identical in all the photos, spanning a period of 33 years. I just wish we could add one of him holding Eleanor.

And this one is really special to me, for fairly obvious reasons. It’s my wedding day and my dad’s walking me down the aisle. You can’t tell from the picture, but he was walking far too fast and I was saying ‘Papa. Slow down!’ You also can’t tell from the picture, but we were actually late. Everyone had been delivered to the registry office by the minibus and it had come back to get us, and then we’d got stuck behind a bunch of marching bands. Luckily, Chris waited for us. I look at this photo a lot and it makes me happy, though it also makes me sad that my sister won’t have her own photo of Papa walking her down the aisle when her time comes.

RIP Brian John Goddard, 1945-2007. We miss you, Papa.

12 comments:

  1. Oh my, you made me cry. Losing a father is so so hard on a girl. My dad died 9 years ago and I will never get to have a picture og him holding my boys and it brought tears to my eyes. I can see that you loved you papa very very much.

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  2. It os very hard, yes. I'm sorry your dad didn't get to meet your boys. I have found myself thinking about Papa a lot more since Eleanor arrived. He waited so long for grandchildren and only got a tiny time with one of them. Sorry to make you cry; I did too, writing it, but it's good to so now and again.

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  3. Oh Tasha, how hard it is. They're beautiful photos, and the montage of your dad holding babies is really special. Isn't it amazing how his stance hasn't changed?

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  4. Thank you. You know only too well how hard it is. It is quite bizarre how his stance stayed the same over all that time. I'm sure he'd have held Eleanor just the same, too.

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  5. Lovely pics..the only one I have of my dad is one I took of him standing outside in the summertime, wearing just his Y-Fronts, cooling down after a bath (we didn't have neighbours in case you're worried).
    He wasn't too pleased with me about that (snigger)

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  6. Lovely post and you are right the pics are perfect.

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  7. Oh, your dad looks so lovely. Uncanny, the baby holding posture, and such a loving look he is giving all those babies. Very sorry for your loss.

    Have been pondering life and death since a friend lost his wife suddenly last week. I have not been touched yet, and I know I won't do well when it comes to my family. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. I know I'm a bit late, but I wanted to say how much I love your photographs. Your Dad looks like a lovely husband, father and grandfather. I'm so sorry for your loss. I met Andy a week before I lost my Dad (2006). Dad never saw me truly happy.
    Sharing your grief Tasha x

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  9. I've just visited your blog and was so moved. Lovely, lovely photos, and your papa looks a wonderful papa. Sorry for your loss - mine died 2 weeks before I knew I was pregnant and we often look up to the stars and wonder if he is there looking down, together with my mum and mother in law. It helps me to think they are. Thanks for sharing. I'm now a follower so will pop in again.

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  10. Just visiting your blog for the first time. What a lovely tribute to your father. Great photos.

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