This is my friend Rachel who is a brilliant photographer and here she is standing in front of a display of photos of the renovation of The Buxton Crescent. She won a competition and has been the official photographer recording all the work being done to bring the Crescent back to life and to become a 5 star hotel.
Sadly Rachel has been poorly for many years originally with brittle asthma and the steroids she has had to take for years has destroyed her immune system. Rachel is allergic to everything and can have asthma attacks and/or go into anaphylactic shock which has happened many times over the years. Such a wonderful girl who never complains about anything.
This year Rachel had two very bad asthma attacks which took away her speech. This did happen a few years ago and she managed to work very hard and get her speech back. She is making a slow recovery again and although her speech is not back she can make herself be understood.
Sadly she was given some chocolate and had the worst anaphylactic shock she has ever had. The result is her brain was starved of oxygen and she has lost her memory and she cannot remember people she knew from about 15 years ago. I am in that group together with our small group of photographers who meet up every year. I am trying to find photos of me with Rachel to try to fill in the gaps she has in her memory. Not having much luck and I have now been through all my external hard drives and cannot find images I know I took of us all together.
My heart breaks for my dear friend who has suffered so much over the years but this final thing seems to be the ultimate cruelty.
Bad quality photo as it is taken from one of my photo books of shots I have uploaded to FB. I cannot find the original.
My goodness, how devastating. Life can indeed be so very cruel. You will always be in her heart, if not her immediate memory, and she is fortunate to have such a dear friend.
Oh gracious...what a hard life your dear friend has had...a chocolate the ultimate blow....how some people’s health is on a knife edge & upsetting for her & you she doesn’t remember your friendship at this immediate time....hoping her mind clears & you can both reminisce together again soon.
What a beautiful photo of your friend. It is awful when memory and speech are lost - I work in neurological care - but resilience, determination and a strong network of friends and family can make a huge difference. Your friend sounds like she has all of these. I hope you find your beloved photos. If not, you still have all the stories and the memories to share with her.
Such a happy cheerful smile, Pam. It really is heartbreaking! When you mention getting rid of photos, I cringe "because you never know..." I did have a hard drive crash many years ago, and every now and again I remember photos that went missing... It seems a small thing until something like this happens...
What an infectious smile she has