A friend, Viv, stayed with me here in Eagleton just after I arrived back from New Zealand a few months ago. Viv commented that I had no photos of Andrew on show in the house although I had photos of Gaz. She wondered why. The answer is actually quite simple. We have very few contemporary photos of Andy. The photo I used to have on the wall of him in his graduation robes was not a photo that he liked and was not one that I liked either. So eventually I removed it. Of course I have thousands (with no exaggeration) of him and of Gaz from their birth until they left the nest to go off into the big wide world. Somehow every time I look at those photos I am overcome with a great sadness and I've never been able to put them on display. It doesn't stop me looking at them from time to time, though, as I have already scanned 2,500 photos (only another heaven knows how many tens of thousands still to sift through and scan).
This evening as I sit in the Study watching the effect of the setting sun on the sea it is hard not to feel emotional and it occurs to me that it's about time I got a grip so here are a few photos of Andrew and of Andrew with Gareth. Andrew is the elder (and taller!) of the two:
