My favourite childhood photo

My favourite photo of my childhood is kept in my Dad’s wallet. He has always kept it there ever since he received it as a birthday present over 30 years ago.
At the time that the photograph was taken, my father was working in Russia in the oil fields. He was away for eight months as the distance was too great to travel back to Mlawa, the small town about 100 miles north of Warsaw in Poland where we lived.
My mother, older brother and I missed him dreadfully and he missed us too. Life was lonely and difficult without him.

Our happy day

My mother decided to cheer us all up by having a photo of three of us taken as a surprise for Dad’s birthday.
She took me and my brother Jacek to the photographer’s studio in town. The photographer was a gentle lady who gave me a yellow plastic cat to play with during the session. You can see it in the photograph.
The three of us had such fun together that day. It’s one of my earliest memories and I can still recall how special I felt when my picture was taken.

A cherished keepsake

My Dad has never told me how he felt when he received our picture.
Like most Polish people of his generation, my Dad rarely shares his emotions. He does rather than says.
But I know that he cut the picture down to size so that it would fit in the tan leather wallet that he used at the time. And thirty years later, he still keeps our photo in his wallet.
Whenever I see that picture of me, Jacek and Mum, I can see how much he has always loved and cherished us.