Jack Brown & 100 Years

adminMay 14, 2023

To receive the famous 100-year-old Telegram from the Queen and famous in the UK for reaching the ripe old age of 100 years is a rare opportunity for some and people are lucky enough to reach this grand age which is a landmark for them. Jack Brown my grandfather was one of these lucky few. This journal post is my own remembrance, a salute to Jack on V.E. Day, and he saw so many of these special days and with today being 75 years a little celebration around the UK is being held.

Jack Brown was a very independent man who lived on his own with his cats until 102 years old still active and interested but unfortunately, Jack eventually had to move to people’s home to be looked after as even the great succumb to age. He sadly passed away at 106 years of age and is now sleeping with his wife Grace together as one. These pictures are mostly all I have left but I know there are more at my mums. Celebrate life as its a blessing we all have and soon it’s gone for us so think on and be happy…

His great age allowed him a large perspective view on life in this last 100 years and arguably, now the most prolific century for inventive solutions including landing on the moon not to mention the great discoveries in medicine. Like many others, Jack lived through the war years and celebrated V.E.Day to actually not say much about it. He and his wife are greatly missed but today we stand together to remind ourselves of the fallen but also of those who managed through the turmoil and built a new life in the freedom that we all enjoy now.

As the post box clangs shut, the letter or telegram from the Queen arrives in a large envelope fully embellished, and immediately it’s clear to anyone that this was special being adorned with the royal crest on the front, and a personalised message from the Houses of Parliament and the Queen. We should have realised it was a special delivery as it arrived without a stamp!

This was my personal record of his celebration. I have many more images from his day which I wanted to share, however, I chose these as told his story in brief. For 100 years the story should be a full-length feature film of stories and accomplishments over time.

Jack was a very clever man, building his own caravans and always tinkering with cars. He actually had a car from the age of 18 and met his wife my Grandmother Grace in Bath. He wooed her and they arrived in the midlands and Darlaston of all areas. In those days a thriving place, now a former shadow of itself.

Finally, they moved to a nice area in Wolverhampton called Penn. having a family of four children, Jack was adventurous and creative. Building his own mobile caravan and travelling around Europe by car most of is life. 100 years of enjoyment and love for his family and the taste for homemade wine!

I often asked Jack about how he stayed so fit and healthy “No Butter on my bread” He would say? Also “walking every day even when I never really need to. If you don’t use it you lose it” he would say. At 100 Years Jack was heading off every day to the Blind Institute where he began his party, then back home to live on his own.

Even very partially sighted with macular degeneration of his eyes [Middle area of retina dis damaged and a black area in front of his eye and viewed the world from a small area our of the sides of his vision] He managed to do what he wished and was an avid reader even so. It would take time and he would read with his magnifying glass with a sideways stare but he was always up to date with the news of the week.

As a family, we counted the years towards his 100th year and we were so happy that he received the telegram and made the milestone. A party at home but also one at his blind institute, A celebration which we all were apart of making the front of the local newspaper.

In this picture above, his silver balloons capture the very essence of his day. A little dazzled at the attention and rearranging them for my picture. Photography was a medium in capturing and freezing moments in time, memories to look back on, to feel those feelings which we had at the time, and for me, these do just that.

In my career as a photographer, it’s rare to get these feelings of memory and emotion. Commercial photography is just that, a way of making money and making a living and although I love it, the images I take rarely have the same emotion attached and it has been refreshing to search. These journal posts I do every week now are building new feelings for me in my own personal world of pictures I never show. It’s giving me confidence in photography as a medium to tell a story and capture the data.