Don’t they look cute?
When I first put this photo of my husband and his older brother in our album I labelled it “Trolley Time – around 1951″ And on the next page of the album is the following photo labelled “Ian & Lindsay 1956″ This is fine…. as labels go. Just recently I asked Lindsay if he remembered his trolley……

Well, an interesting conversation (the story) followed. Trolleys were built by boys. All one needed was a plank of wood, wheels & axles from the local bike shop, a few big nails to attach the axles to the plank, some strong rope tied to the front wheels for steering and a strong stick attached to the side as a brake. The wooden fruit box-cum-seat Lindsay told me was an added luxury.

Not many cars about, so they drove their trolley down the road. And the Tandem Trolley above had steel wheels which added excitement because they could do “wheelies” or spin out. These were the days when children went off outside playing and building things without fear of hurting themselves or being at risk from others.

I doubt that there are many young children today that have had the pleasure of building their own trolley. It’s these little details that add to the story and make the photos more interesting than just the labels.

Please contact me if you want any help writing your family stories.

Technorati Tags: Old photos, trolleys, writing stories

All the events both happy & sad are now memories. The trouble with our memories is that they fade or even alter if we don’t recall the events frequently. Sometimes we hold onto the sad or horrible memories for too long and in the process the good ones fade or are forgotten.

When I was 17 (a little while ago) I was injured in a car accident around October. I can still recall the rolling of the car, the events that followed and the recuperation from broken ribs and collarbone (I was lucky). But I can’t remember the happy times like Christmas that year, who I spent it with, what I did or what presents I got. In my opinion, I kept the wrong memories.

In my “Book about Me” I’ve writen a page reviewing the past year and I will now do this in January each and every year. I’ll write about the highlights, my acheivements and the people or events that have moved me. This will keep great memories alive for me but also give my (yet to appear) grandchildren an insight into how I lived my life. I think that will be a wonderful gift to leave them when my time comes.

Don’t wait any longer. Start writing your “Book about Me”. Join me by signing up for the Our Family-Our Story Project. Just click on the “Get Started” link on the right side of this page.