We are downsizing . We have brought up our 4 children who we adoped aged 6/7 and 6/8( 2 sets of brothers who are now 30-40) plus a Nepalese young man who lived with us for 10 years and sees us as his English Family. As part of decluttering I am going through over 30 photo albums with pictures taken over the years ( we didn't really start digital photos til 10 years ago) This bringing back memories of first meeting our sons .Birthdays,Christmas,Football teams, days out. Adoption Uk's camps at Sandy Balls. I have MS and have never been sure how long I would be mobile. So when I inherited some money from my grandmother we chose to take our older 2 to New Zealand for 3 weeks,staying with friends/YHA's . Swimming with Dolphins/jet boating/ walking on a Glazier/ climbing a mountain etc One photo is very precious. It is of us as family of 4 sitting on the limbs of tree with a lake behind us. 5 years ( after an inheritance from my grandfather) later we took a photo of our family again on the limbs of the same tree with all 4 of our sons ! We had decided to go back to NZ and see our friends ( who are long term foster carers) there and explore the wonderful countryside and outdoor activities.
We are glad we went with our children. Most people go on such trips when they retire but although I am still mobile( I use a walking stick) I wouldn't be able to travel that far now. Looking at the many photos and deciding which to keep I remember the good times we had with our kids. Going off in our camper van . Camping. BUT there are the unrecorded images of meltdowns in public-being kicked in the face at station/having one hit golf balls out of the range into a car park/ another throwing stones and breaking windows at our Centre Parks Lodge ( we never went back) the one who would refuse to leave the YHA hostel and one of us having to stay behind. The night terrors. The rages that broke plates/a chair etc
Both the actual physical photos and the "mental images " are real and document both the many !!! But also the many ??? Of adoption