January 1973

Now that my mother has started packing up in view of her upcoming move later this month, she's emptying drawers and cupboards. Every day she's showing me more photos of some of my ancestors who died long before I was born. There are even some she never met, because they lived in the 19th century. By the look of their clothes they seemed to be rather well off, although almost all of them were farmers. Of course, I suppose they put on their Sunday best to drive into Brussels - with horse and cart - to have their photos taken.

But there were also three or so photos of a more recent date. A portrait of myself at the age of maybe 2 - 2.5. So that would put it back to 1959. And then this one ... yet more recent, but nevertheless taken 42 years ago.

New Year's Day 1973.

Left to right: my aunt, my cousin R., my uncle (my father's brother),
my grandmother, my mother and yours truly.

My father is not in the photo because he was the photographer. My grandmother was 78 or 79 at the time and my mother 45. Some people say that at that age she looked like Grace Kelly!  I was on the verge of turning 16 that year.

The photo was taken in my mother's current house. After my grandmother died in July 1977, my parents renovated the place. Today this is my mother's drawing room, Soon it will be somebody else's ...