Slides of London

 A few months ago, while I was cleaning out a closet, and it seems like I am always cleaning out something, I came across three carousels of slides that were Mom's.  They are of her trip to London in the mid 80s. I was excited to find them because I honestly forgot that I had them.  I will always remember Mom's excitement at that trip.  It was probably the best trip of her life.  She went with her best friend Janet and a group of people through Wingate College (Wingate University now). They had a wonderful student rewards program that if you maintained a certain gpa they would send you on an overseas trip during winter break.  There were always several destinations to choose from each year.  Anyone from the public was invited to go.  Janet worked for Wingate at the time and so she and Mom decided to go.

When Mom came back from the trip she brought not only these slides but so much more.  Many souvenirs of her travels throughout the city.  I got a music box from Harrods.  Bill got his first David Winter cottage. There were gifts for everyone.  She talked about going to see Cats in the West End and going to see a play at the Haymarket starring Maggie Smith and, I believe, Joan Plowright. She had endless tales of her adventures, and we all listened very intently. Of course, she showed us her slides.  And she showed them to lots of people.  Her book club, her bridge clubs.  Dad would bring a projector and screen from work and set them up for her so that she could show them proudly.  And this was back in the days before social media and iPhones and such. And international travel was a much bigger deal back then.  Not that it isn't as big a deal today, but it is definitely more commonplace now than then. 

I was telling this to a friend of mine at work and he offered to loan me his slide projector.  That was very generous of him.  Side note - I also found some much older slides from the 50s that he is interested in me exploring but that will be for another blog.  So, I am hoping this weekend to set up the slide projector and take a trip down memory lane with Mom and her London excursion.  I have the perfect wall for it in my den.  It will be a fun thing to do and relive some of her happiest moments.