Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Out With the Old – In With the Old

I used to sit on a very old swivel chair at my desk. One of the screws that held the backrest was constantly falling out, and I had to get the screwdriver out and fix it ever so often. Then the seat kept going south, lower and lower, so I had to lift my bottom up and pull the lever, hoping there would be enough push left in the cylinder to get the seat to a decent height. It was basically falling apart, so for my birthday last December I got this wonderful piece of engineering work, a modern office chair. I had had enough of my dad’s hand-me-down chair after many, many years of service. I convinced my relatives that it would be a good idea, because I would be sitting on the chair every time I spoke to them on the phone or wrote an email. So here we are, I am sitting on it now. Thanks again, it is absolutely great!

I have also been rooting around in bags and boxes in wardrobes and cupboards lately, looking for various items, and I found an absolute treasure. I found my own Pandora’s Box from the past, containing letters up to forty-five years old; letters from relatives, girlfriends and friends, and also fan mail from when I used to play in a group in my late teens. Wooow! The past came flooding over me and I got completely lost in there; letters I remembered vaguely, letters I had forgotten about and letters containing photographs that I had not seen for 40 – 45 years. You can easily imagine how that felt. My head started spinning and I felt totally inebriated. I have not had time yet to read through them, but I will. Mostly for the enjoyment of my relatives back in Sweden, I post two photographs that bring back very personal memories, the first one of my first summer romance, Catharina, in 1963 when I was still 15, and the other one of my first proper, long-term girlfriend, Ethel, when I was 17. How’s that for sharing? But I have to admit, I feel ever so slightly uneasy, remembering the emotions, looking at these two teenagers with respect rather than like a right old perv*rt! (NB the anti-search precaution.)

5 comments:

Eric Valentine said...

Good looking chair Swen, that's enough to make your head swivel (groan) LOL

Looks like you were quite the lad with the ladies also when you were a young feller! Nice post, nice pics my friend.. :)

swenglishexpat said...

Yes Eric, the chair is wonderful and the girls WERE wonderful. I wonder where they are now, how life is and what they look like!

Lynda said...

Good looking girls and fan mail... hmmm I think there is a story there that needs to be told Sven...

swenglishexpat said...

Lynda - there is enough for a book, but I just might post bits and pieces some time.

Anonymous said...

i liked so much ur lost-new-found photos. Im 25 and i never found letters or diaries of mine older than 10 years but when i did it impressed me a lot. SO i kept conserving them and thinking when i would find them later agin. So, when i read ur blog..finding things about ur self, u forgot about for 40 years..I thought that must be quite a laugh.