Margot had it all sorted, she was just born in the wrong era...
In times of late, Ive been drawn to photographs of the past. And today being All Saint's day, the memory my late great-aunt Margot comes to the forefront. Whilst I'm still processing the death of my father, I've been reminded by the relo's that in Europe today (and across the world I suspect) people will be frequenting their prospective ancestors in cemetaries across the continents. Today Novemeber 1st, we remember those long past, those newly departed and those whom in history were considered saints. In my eyes, my great-aunt Margot was a saint. She was the youngest of eight children, ballsy, cool and very refined.Margot had great taste for the finer things and her handicraft was revered by all that knew her. Everyone loved Margot, she was genuine, she said how she saw it and was generous to the core. I think to what she would have been like now, if she skipped a generation and was born in a different era. She would have been great and she would have had them lining up. She would have done a lot more. In her hey-day she was courted by handsome doctors, her life could have changed, but the needs of the immediate family outweighed her personal needs. You see, my great-aunt dedicated her life to her family. Along with her closest sister, she helped raise with penache and style the next generation of nephews and nieces, my mother included. Margot had it going on. Sadly she died a spinster, and was buried in-between her parents, for whom she had overflowing affection. But Margot lives on.My observation is this, its these people in the family unit who shape a little of what we eventually become. I was fortunate to also be the recipient of Margot's love and affection. At age 5 I spent the best part of a year in the small village. She hand-washed my play clothes, plaited my hair and scowled on the other kids when they pushed me into the prickly bush. I was that kid you'd see holding onto the flight attendants hand as they boarded you onto the plane, passport around your neck, as the shuffle of children sans parents criss-crossing across the globe. I have my mothert to thank, she gave me the opportunity to form a relationship with Margot. I had my first glass of champers with Margot, she proudly presented bananas, when in communist 80s that was simply unheard of and it was Margot who was okay with the first boy I fell in love with.So on All Saints Day, its not just the saints we learnt at school we remember, but those undefined saints among us as well.#reflections #photograph #opinion #blackandwhitephoto #pasttime #familyunit #greataunt