I treasure this photograph.
It’s of my grandfather, Laurence Thomas Delaney, holding me on his knee on my first Christmas Day.
Laurence Thomas Delaney and me
He’s my link to all the generations of Delaneys (and Marshalls, Simpsons, Wilsons and Henleys) in Australia over two centuries.
Pop, as we called him, was born on the family farm, Moyne, in Little Hartley, New South Wales, but left to go adventuring, breaking the long tradition of working on the land. As a journalist, he went to Hong Kong and South America and ended up in London where he worked in the entertainment industry.
He died when I was three years old and I wish I’d known him better.
So this Christmas I’ll be thinking of my family; the ones who are no longer alive as well as the ones who make this time of year so precious.
I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas.
A Rebel Hand 
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What a wonderful picture to have. I love that it captures you looking up at him. Merry Christmas!
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Thanks, Shelley. I’m so lucky to have that photo – and to have had such a great grandad.
Merry Christmas to you!
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I’ve just looked at this photo again because Genes Reunited (UK) is having a baby picture competition. This is what is written on the back:
A reminder of your first Christmas
Grandpa
The strange thing is that always thought of him as Grandpop, or just Pop.
Mind you, I called my Gran ‘Grandma’, and she hated it! Only ‘Granny’ would do.
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