Pictures that tell 1000 words

The importance of family (part 2)

22nd February 2034

Dianne made her way up the final few steps onto the landing, before making her way through the door that lead into her sons room. The soft yellow lighting from his bedside lamp reverberating off of the pale blue walls. The shadows of  furniture, soft toys and unfinished Lego models scattered about onto the walls. 

As Dianne walked in, Alex took his eyes off of the constellation which his Dad had hand painted onto the ceiling. The stars and the planets he had drawn across the room had kept Alex's mind occupied for hours on end. The idea of space and of the rocket in the far left corner, travelling across to the small alien Joe had drawn in the far right corner of the room, having supplied the little boy with countless daydreams and imaginative ideas, that one day - he too could find his way across the world.

As his big blue eyes landed on the formidable red tresses of his mother, Alex couldn't help but smile. His mother was an incredible woman. Despite being too young to fully understand what the ins and outs of life really entailed, Alex was sure of one thing... No one on the planet meant more to him than she did. Her big brown eyes and faded Australian accent being two of the only things that could ever calm him. Could ever make him feel better when he was sick. 

As she settled back onto the place on the side of his bed, Dianne opened up the photo album once again. "Right, where were we up to Monkey?"

Alex sat up slightly, looking over at the page the book had been opened up to. "Ummm.... That one!" He said enthusiastically, as he pointed to a small picture on the right hand side of the page. "The one with the old lady on it." He said, rather casually before continuing. "Wait, who is that old lady mummy?" 

Dianne couldn't help but widen her smile at the memories of THAT woman. "Well, she was funny - she was incredibly kind - she was insightful - and most importantly, she was your great-grandmother."

16th November 2018

"How do I act around them?" Dianne said nervously, running a sweaty hand over the top of her head, smoothing out the ponytail she had hastily put her hair into.

"What?" Joe questioned as he walked through the tight corridors of the Blackpool Tower.

"You're family Joe.... What am I meant to say? Do I need to wait for them to approach me? Do I have to change my accent? What if...."

"Bloody hell Di, calm down!" Joe said, interrupting his girlfriends frantic ramble. "People would think that you've never met a boyfriends family before." He chuckled slightly.

Dianne stopped dead in her tracks. A guilty blush rising up her neck as she took in his words. "Wait... Have you never met a boyfriends family before?" Joe questioned, echoing his previous statement.

"Well not properly no. All my boyfriends that I had in Australia, where from the same town I grew up in. And everybody knows everybody there, so I never really had to meet them per say. And I've only ever had one other boyfriend in England, but because Anthony and I were so on and off, we never really got to that stage." She admitted guiltily.

Joe paused for a moment. He had been completely and utterly calm about Dianne meeting his dads side of the family, thinking that she must have done this a fair few times before hand. But her recent confession had changed that completely. All of a sudden, Joe felt his pulse rate increase - his hands became sweaty - and his brain started to panic. 

Seeing the worried face of the bemused red head next to him however, Joe knew that he had to remain as calm as possible, for her benefit. "Ummm okay.... Er... j-just I don't know, talk to them about me... about yourself even." Joe said tentatively, saying the first thing that came to mind.