I’m a few years older than you and this brought back lots of memories of my college days and international travel. I have 8 boxes of all my photos in the basement that I’ve been fearful to go through (prior marriage and lots of memories). It’s not necessarily painful to think of, it’s just that I’ve avoided wanting to go down that rabbit hole rather than looking forward. Your writing here is now helping me see this in a different light and that it might shed some interesting insights. I’m going through some transitions with feeling overwhelmed with work and obligations and having less time for joyful fun— Maybe it’s time to take a look at the younger me and see what it unveils! Thanks for this beautiful post.
Ooh, i love this so much. What a great look back at you at 20, at Cambridge and all it brought, and the younger self who turns out not to be too different from the older self. A riveting read. thank you.
Lovely. "Spend some time and look closely at them for signs of who you were. And then look again, to see who you are." I have SO many photos from those days - 1983 and beyond. And yes, they are packed away, in envelopes, boxes, and some albums. I usually look away when I come upon them, perhaps because I don't have the time to travel down memory lane, or perhaps I fear the journey, I'm not sure. But I do know that now, the next time, I will at least take a peek, and maybe I will find myself.
As usual, I lost myself in your writing, Elissa. This one in particular awakened such nostalgia in me for my semester abroad in London in 1997: how every corner of the city revealed itself to be something charming, how open I was to meeting new people, how starved I was to experience life outside of my small existence back home. And how beautiful and relaxing it was to explore Cambridge with my new-found friends, losing ourselves in winding streets and posing next to flowers I was certain were never as beautiful "back home." Thank you for sharing this with us...I am inspired to dig out my old photo albums and reconnect with that young woman, once more.
How timely, so very so, as in two days I'll be taking two huge boxes of photos to my niece's house to go through, along with her sister and my brother. Taken in the 70's and 80's mostly taken with my first SLR camera and sent to my parents as I roamed around the U.S. from east coast to west coast. This photo log of my ramblings has sat in the family house used for far too brief weeks each summer that I've continued to clear out piece by piece for 32 years. There are missions in life that apparently have no ending. And throwing out old photos isn't one of them. Now you have me curious and intrigued as to what I will find, who I will meet in them, who I was and perhaps who I may be now.
Thank you for this sweet piece. I love how you are so tender with your younger self, so nonchalant about the ways we all lived and behaved when we were trying to figure out who we are. (Hey, maybe we could even be tender with our current selves and future selves!) I just found one of these boxes too and with journals!
Thank you. I think the closest you can get in America is heavy cream (which I think is around a 36% butter fat, as opposed to single cream, which is about 18).
If it’s any consolation - probably not - I met a young Cambridge medical student recently and he said that alcohol is no longer a big part of the culture there. That’s sensible, but it made me a little sad. I hope drinking hasn’t been replaced with more work.
Actually, I could be and probably am wrong but I think that it’s more connected to the fact that younger people are just drinking less everywhere. I remember at Caius there was an amazing Buttery, known for their (excellent) claret, as was Trinity’s. I think it’s just a very different world, and students are more attuned to it than we were in the 80s. In ‘83, it was all wine/port/sherry/lager all the time, or at least it seemed to be. But I don’t think it was specific to Cambridge, by any means. BU was a very big drinking school in the 80s as well. I think it was the times, and not the place.
In 1983, I was not one of them and I’m still often not. I do know, though, even after all these years, when the weather’s going to change, thanks to the broken foot…..🤣
Thanks for this! The box of photos I have take me back to Barcelona, Port-au-Prince and Aberdeen. So many stories in each photo. And maybe it’s time to tell them…☺️
This piece took me back to Richmond College, International in Kennsington, London 1989. What a fabulous summer. I was the oldest of the students. I remember sitting on the floor in my house where students lamented their not thin enough bodies bodies (because 80s starvation culture). I said for the first time, "I love my woman's body." I think I shocked them. Anyway, falling asleep in Hyde Park, reading in the back of pubs, walking for hours until happening upon Charring Cross Road, tea at St. Martin's in the Field, all of the delicious everyday things I did as a flaneur Shakespeare student who didn't register any of the tourist sites and still, having traveled back again, haven't seen Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London, but know the museums and Woolf, Bell, Sackville-West, and James homes and gardens like the palm of my hand. Sweet memories. Hundreds of photos.
Another fantastic post. Thank you so much for sharing. My time at Cambridge and then Grantchester was 10 years later and how little has changed. Even now Grantchester is still a tiny village; it’s just marginally better known. It was a wonderful place to bring my two babies back to and raise them till it was time for us to leave. Thank you ☺️
It must have been glorious to raise your children in Grantchester. We weren't there the last time we were in England, but we'll likely stay for a few nights when we return. I'm so relieved to hear that it hasn't changed much.
I’m a few years older than you and this brought back lots of memories of my college days and international travel. I have 8 boxes of all my photos in the basement that I’ve been fearful to go through (prior marriage and lots of memories). It’s not necessarily painful to think of, it’s just that I’ve avoided wanting to go down that rabbit hole rather than looking forward. Your writing here is now helping me see this in a different light and that it might shed some interesting insights. I’m going through some transitions with feeling overwhelmed with work and obligations and having less time for joyful fun— Maybe it’s time to take a look at the younger me and see what it unveils! Thanks for this beautiful post.
Ooh, i love this so much. What a great look back at you at 20, at Cambridge and all it brought, and the younger self who turns out not to be too different from the older self. A riveting read. thank you.
Lovely. "Spend some time and look closely at them for signs of who you were. And then look again, to see who you are." I have SO many photos from those days - 1983 and beyond. And yes, they are packed away, in envelopes, boxes, and some albums. I usually look away when I come upon them, perhaps because I don't have the time to travel down memory lane, or perhaps I fear the journey, I'm not sure. But I do know that now, the next time, I will at least take a peek, and maybe I will find myself.
As usual, I lost myself in your writing, Elissa. This one in particular awakened such nostalgia in me for my semester abroad in London in 1997: how every corner of the city revealed itself to be something charming, how open I was to meeting new people, how starved I was to experience life outside of my small existence back home. And how beautiful and relaxing it was to explore Cambridge with my new-found friends, losing ourselves in winding streets and posing next to flowers I was certain were never as beautiful "back home." Thank you for sharing this with us...I am inspired to dig out my old photo albums and reconnect with that young woman, once more.
Thank you so much!
Enjoyed this beautifully rendered reminiscing. Thank you for sharing. I have kept my college photo albums.
I read your essay after sifting through family photographs dating back to the early 1900s. I am keeping my relatives in an archival box.
I always fear that I will be haunted by those whose images I throw out.
How timely, so very so, as in two days I'll be taking two huge boxes of photos to my niece's house to go through, along with her sister and my brother. Taken in the 70's and 80's mostly taken with my first SLR camera and sent to my parents as I roamed around the U.S. from east coast to west coast. This photo log of my ramblings has sat in the family house used for far too brief weeks each summer that I've continued to clear out piece by piece for 32 years. There are missions in life that apparently have no ending. And throwing out old photos isn't one of them. Now you have me curious and intrigued as to what I will find, who I will meet in them, who I was and perhaps who I may be now.
Thank you for this sweet piece. I love how you are so tender with your younger self, so nonchalant about the ways we all lived and behaved when we were trying to figure out who we are. (Hey, maybe we could even be tender with our current selves and future selves!) I just found one of these boxes too and with journals!
I love these stories, brought me back to my study-abroad days.
love this -- all the seeds there in the images. I was at Cambridge 79-82 and now want to go and find the pictures :)
What a wonderful post. I so enjoy and look forward to your writing. BTW, My daughter serves posset in a frozen lemon skin. So refreshing!!
That’s brilliant!
I want to make this. What is the American equivalent of double cream? Is there a suitable substitute? I enjoy your writing. Thanks - Kathy
Thank you. I think the closest you can get in America is heavy cream (which I think is around a 36% butter fat, as opposed to single cream, which is about 18).
If it’s any consolation - probably not - I met a young Cambridge medical student recently and he said that alcohol is no longer a big part of the culture there. That’s sensible, but it made me a little sad. I hope drinking hasn’t been replaced with more work.
Actually, I could be and probably am wrong but I think that it’s more connected to the fact that younger people are just drinking less everywhere. I remember at Caius there was an amazing Buttery, known for their (excellent) claret, as was Trinity’s. I think it’s just a very different world, and students are more attuned to it than we were in the 80s. In ‘83, it was all wine/port/sherry/lager all the time, or at least it seemed to be. But I don’t think it was specific to Cambridge, by any means. BU was a very big drinking school in the 80s as well. I think it was the times, and not the place.
Oh no absolutely- a big shift has happened and young people are just a lot more careful.
In 1983, I was not one of them and I’m still often not. I do know, though, even after all these years, when the weather’s going to change, thanks to the broken foot…..🤣
Thanks for this! The box of photos I have take me back to Barcelona, Port-au-Prince and Aberdeen. So many stories in each photo. And maybe it’s time to tell them…☺️
This piece took me back to Richmond College, International in Kennsington, London 1989. What a fabulous summer. I was the oldest of the students. I remember sitting on the floor in my house where students lamented their not thin enough bodies bodies (because 80s starvation culture). I said for the first time, "I love my woman's body." I think I shocked them. Anyway, falling asleep in Hyde Park, reading in the back of pubs, walking for hours until happening upon Charring Cross Road, tea at St. Martin's in the Field, all of the delicious everyday things I did as a flaneur Shakespeare student who didn't register any of the tourist sites and still, having traveled back again, haven't seen Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London, but know the museums and Woolf, Bell, Sackville-West, and James homes and gardens like the palm of my hand. Sweet memories. Hundreds of photos.
The 80s starvation culture --- indeed. I remember it very well --It sounds like you had a lovely time.
Another fantastic post. Thank you so much for sharing. My time at Cambridge and then Grantchester was 10 years later and how little has changed. Even now Grantchester is still a tiny village; it’s just marginally better known. It was a wonderful place to bring my two babies back to and raise them till it was time for us to leave. Thank you ☺️
It must have been glorious to raise your children in Grantchester. We weren't there the last time we were in England, but we'll likely stay for a few nights when we return. I'm so relieved to hear that it hasn't changed much.
it was lovely and I try not to regret leaving but we have found another beautiful corner of England to be, all together
I adored this look back, Elissa, and wonder what you’ll say about these photos in another 15 years. Do not throw them away!
Thanks so much, Nancy - I will not throw them away!