Through the Lens of Time | Revisiting Childhood Memories and Mischief (LOH #183)

I was browsing through old pictures in my Google Photos and came across a photo of my cousin and me. I downloaded it to my phone intending to enhance its clarity using an AI app, but after trying several apps without success, I resorted to manually editing it with a photo editor on my laptop. Like many photos from the 80s, it has a yellowish tinge, which I chose to preserve to keep the nostalgic feel of the photo.

So when was this picture taken?

It was 1986, 38 years ago. My cousin and I were both 9 years old when this photo was taken. I can't recall who took it or why, especially since developing photos wasn't cheap back then. I mean, why would anyone use their precious film on a couple of naughty kids?😂

My cousin and I were quite close as kids. He was a month older than me, and we were both the youngest siblings in our families. We lived next door to each other and attended the same primary school. Back then, without gadgets or online games, we naturally spent a lot of time playing together with other neighborhood kids. Life was a lot simpler back then and not as stressful as it is today.

One thing I noticed about us in the photo is that both of us were wearing slippers, which might seem like an odd observation. After all, everyone wears some sort of footwear outdoors, right? Well, not us! Since we lived right next to each other, we often didn't bother with shoes or sandals and just walked around barefoot. That meant our feet were always dusty and dirty, but we never thought anything of it back then. It just seemed like too much of a hassle to put on footwear when all we wanted to do was play and have fun. The thought of getting hookworm infections or germs never crossed our minds. I know it was very unhygienic, but looking back, I think it actually helped build our immune systems 😅. Being constantly exposed to germs, our bodies had to work hard to protect us from getting sick.

Where was this picture taken?

This picture was taken outside my parents' house. My mom has always been an avid gardener and all those flower pots were hers. I vividly remember one time her plants were infested with caterpillars; we helped her get rid of them, which was quite a repulsive experience. To this day, I still dislike caterpillars and anything slimy and wriggly.

As for those old window panes, we still have them, though I hope to replace them with modern frames and glass someday.

What did we do before this picture was taken?

Believe it or not, I still vividly remember what we were doing just before this photo was taken. It's odd that I can recall those details but not who took the photo 😅.

My paternal grandfather was visiting that week and staying with us. He was probably in his late 70s at the time. While my cousin and I were playing around the house, he was resting in the living room, flipping through a magazine. Feeling bored, we concocted a "brilliant" idea to prank him. It was nothing harmful, really; we just thought it would be fun to use a tiny mirror to reflect the hot afternoon sunlight onto the magazine pages on his lap. It was a harmless, silly prank, and I guess he played along, pretending to be shocked by the reflected light 😅.

I was quite close to my granddad and always enjoyed our chats whenever he visited. He passed away five years after this photo was taken, and I cried so much when I heard the news.

This photo was taken almost four decades ago, and it's nice to relive the details of the moment it captured.

This post is my response to this week's LOH Contest #183:

What was the last photo you took? Share it with us and tell the story behind it!

That's it for now. If you read this far, thank you. I appreciate it so much! Kindly give me a follow if you like my content. I mostly write about making art, life musing, and our mundane yet charming family life here in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Note: All images used belong to me unless stated otherwise.

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