Snapshot- Detailed edition

My mother and I spent a couple of hours going through old photo albums. I was looking for one particular picture.

And found another.

It is of me in another lifetime. When I was skeletal skinny. No- no health problems, the old metabolism hadn't hit the rock wall of age yet. And I ate like...well...like the metabolism would never hit the rock wall. (that did bite me in the expanding ass a few years later when I discovered Ben and Jerry's.)

It was all there. In the picture. In my mind, the thinness was hot. And the, shall we put it, more rounded curves acquired later are not. But I'll look again.

The thinness was brittle. The eye makeup- a mask. The smile- not shared by the eyes. The hair, very, very Princess Di. Not a bad picture, really- but I've never enjoyed having my picture taken. That hasn't changed a bit.

It was Christmas. Probably around 1986. And no doubt I was waiting for some kind of grandfatherly explosion. Because he always came through with one of those on holidays. Like snow in the winter. Predictable, and a force of nature. Dangerous too.

It's very funny though- looking at the picture- knowing that since then I've gained so much...not just pounds, but also experience. And happiness. And sadness. None of it to be recycled. Nor to be rejected.

Sitting on the table next to me was a Coke, and a very large Toblerone candy bar. And on the floor is a sweater that I have happily forgotten. We'll call those ghosts of Christmas past, and move on from there.

And the photo I was searching for? I'll scan and post later. Because I think it's pretty damned funny.