Two years ago, I came back from Australia and found that all of the photographs I had taken with my tablet had vanished from the camera files – yesterday, Jack somehow found them.
Breathe. Yes, it is true. I was so broken hearted when my photographs just were not there. They were not there. I checked and re-checked, and cried and cried again. None of my photographs from my summer with Goldfinch. I had one picture, of his kitchen, of a cake I made. That’s all I had.
A year later I planned to return to Australia and determined that I could not travel to the other side of the planet and be without a single photograph, I bought myself a camera as I no longer trusted my tablet. Of course, it was impossible for me to travel last year as Australia closed it’s borders due to the threat of Covid-19. I know that decision was made to protect the citizens of Australia – but honestly, it was a huge blow to my heart.
Of course, I am not really sure why I was going out the visit Goldfinch again when I was in a relationship with Jack. But one of the reasons was the loss of all of those photographs. I seemed to need some sort of proof that I had travelled across the world to see the man I loved, the father of my little apricot. Many of my photos were kangaroos, koalas, kookaburras, bandicoots, trees, hills, birds, public buildings in Adelaide’s centre, art in galleries, and some were of Goldfinch and myself. It was hard to lose all of it. I think I was prepared to travel all the way back there in the hopes of collecting lots more photos and videos – that would help me to enjoy special memories forever.
My tablet is on it’s last legs. I hardly ever use it anymore. Jack was playing around with it at the weekend because he was trying to forward emails from my inbox. He said he had downloaded some files onto my tablet and could not find them. He started messing around with the settings of the tablet and doing things that I cannot understand. As he was searching for the files he wanted, he came across some pictures of Goldfinch and me. He showed them to me, and said that I looked very happy.
I could not believe my eyes!! I could not believe what I was seeing. There were over a hundred photographs that I had taken when I was out in Adelaide, and videos too.
I cannot understand it! I cannot believe it! But they are there. Jack helped me to blue-tooth them on to my laptop. Then we sat together and looked at them together. They bring back so many deeply happy memories. I can’t explain my joy. I am so immensely grateful to Jack. He has somehow miraculously resurrected photographs that I thought were lost forever.
It might not seem that big a deal, but to me, it’s such a huge gain. I am just blown away that two years after I cried my heart out believing those photographs were all gone, Jack has somehow restored them.
This may sound silly, and of course, it is all probably because I know nothing about technology – but if does feel as if Jack has performed a miracle. He gave me back something I thought was gone forever. He gave me back my special memories with Goldfinch in Australia. The ironic thing is, the way it happened. It ended up with me curled up in Jack’s arms, tears streaming down my face, and him kissing me because he could see how much it meant to me. If I had never lost those photos, perhaps I would have been tempted to keep them from Jack, and enjoy those memories in private. But now…well, it has brought me closer to Jack, made me more grateful to him…that he has brought these photos back and is sharing them with me.
Caramel 