Diary – An Only Child

Friday 26th April 2025

I thought it might be a nice idea to tell you a little bit about my life before dementia.

We all have a past, but for me, when I receive my diagnosis, my past life just seemed to disappear.

In an instance my life and all my past experiences just vanished!

I had now become a dementia statistic “The person with Early Onset Alzheimer’s”

It is so sad, but very true!

Most people only see the dementia, they are not interested that I actually had a life before this disease.

So over a few blogs I will be finding old photos to write about. Photos which I have randomly picked from my photo box.

Join me as I reigniting some childhood memories

I am an only child, and if I’m honest I was most probably spoiled, or was I?

The way I see things, just because I was an only child, my parents was able to give me most things in life, because there was only me.

I don’t remember my very early days of my life, but as I pull a photo from the box, it’s as if I’m in a Time Machine!

I’m transported back to 1964

My world now in black and white, no colour at this moment in time, no colour to brighten my past life, not at this early stage.

My first photo taken by a professional photographer, I sit looking at the photographer proudly showing off my first teeth.

My eyes are blue and the lace dress was a pale pink or was it peach? A delicate white overlay of lace to make the dress quite special.

Apparently everything I wore would be coordinated, I imagine everything would have had to be quite perfect.

I don’t seem to have many photos of me as a small child, they must all be at my parents house, but the ones I do have ignite memories.

I have no memories of the actual day, just memories of colours, objects in the photo, even smells are brought to mind.

I can remember that my first bike or should I say tricycle, had a bright yellow hard plastic seat, cold when I sat on it, especially when only wearing a little cotton dress.

The teddy bear sitting on the trike was white with a large pink satin bow.

Looking deeper into the photo, I’m pulled into my past.

I can just make out from the card, it’s my 2nd Birthday, you can see in my eyes that I am completely overjoyed!

I am sitting next to my dad in the living room of our terraced house in Nelson Lancashire.

I can remember the street being so clean and well kept, all the neighbours seemed friendly and helpful from what I can remember.

I think one neighbour was called Sandra and the other was called …oh for goodness sake, the name was there in my head and now it’s just disappeared!

(The name of the neighbours came to me a few days later, it was Mr and Mrs Gresty)

I can also remember a Mr and Mrs Woods, they where an elderly couple whom lived across the back.

I can remember on one occasion taking a little tumble, and if by magic an egg shaped lump appeared, protruding from my forehead. Mrs Woods made it all better with a rub of butter on the protruding lump and a sweet from the dish which sat on the large wooden sideboard in her back room. Her house always smelt of sweet things like butterscotch and possibly baking.

My Dad had a friend further up the street, I think his name was Bob. Their house also had sweets on the sideboard too…I wonder if everyone had a dish of sweets on their sideboard?

Funny what memories we remember as a small child.

As I got a little older I can remember a family living near to my dad’s friend Bob, they had a little girl and I would sometimes go and play at her house. There in one of the rooms was a wooden rocking horse, oh my word I thought that rocking horses was amazing!

Climbing onto that horse would feel so good, it was as if I was in another world, a fairy tale world, a world of imagination.

As children we do have great imaginations,

Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Imagination is the door to possibilities. It is where creativity begins, maybe that’s why I have a good imagination for art.

Possibly my imagination and creativity started from a very young age, I wonder if it comes from the imaginative world of being an only child

One of the characteristics of being an only child is the lack of built-in playmates at home. While many may think this is a lonely place to be, it encouraged me to become best friends with my imagination, and the power of make-believe allowed me to escape into fantasy worlds of my own creation. My wildest dreams would come to life alongside my teddies and dolls and I didn’t have to leave home.

I realise that being an only one, did have its downside but also so many positives, like helping to create my own independence and problem-solving skills, being alone taught me the value of solitude and self reliance.

While being an only child come with challenges, the imaginative world is filled with endless possibilities and boundless creativity. Through make-believe, inventive games, and the joy of just being alone.

I realise now, to embrace your imagination is a powerful tool for self-expression and exploring

So, if you’re an only child, remember the positives of being able to just let your imagination run wild and revel in the magic of your own creative world.