Photographs

[FretaBWet]

I thought I would share this in here because many of you will have experienced it or understand it.

I just got back from a vacation with my partner. While we were away I met a long lost relative who had contacted me. She had been searching diligently for my dead name on the internet with no luck. She somehow found my sisters and got my contact info from them. She gave me a bunch of photographs that were taken of me and my parents when I was very young. This is an epic thing for me because the sister who has everything from my parents including all the photographs from when we were growing up is also the sister that considers me dead.

The other reason this is epic is because there is one photo with me on my mother's lap and my rubber pants are clearly visible up the leg of the short pants i'm wearing. The picture was dated by the developer and I was 2 years 2 months old or so at the time.

Hugs,

Freta

[~Brian~]

@FretaBWet

there are a lot of photographs that were in my mom's collections. When my parents married, they had a bunch of different things that they took pictures of. We went camping, went to granny and grandpa's houses, went to Maine a couple times, and just had a good time doing things that we would normally do as a family. We moved to our second house when I was four years old, and a lot of the pictures that we still had at that time made the transition with us. A lot of those pictures I remember fondly, because I can remember a couple of them for example where I was sitting in my dad's recliner, on his lap, and we were having something to eat together, or we were watching TV or doing something. 

My mom is a photographic nut, and I mean that in the kindest way. If there was something my mom wanted to take a picture of, she would take a picture of it. Before the advent of iPhones and camera phones, we would have a camera that she would carry with us to take to family gatherings.When we went to family gatherings, mom would take pictures of everybody, and cameras would be going in and out between all of us. Then, we would develop pictures, with our film and then we'd put them somewhere and probably forget them for a few years , and then pull them out and reminisce about things , or say " when was that taken? Really? " as we go through a lot of the pictures. There are several pictures that were taken of me between 1995 and now , and apparently I have some of those pictures in a box . Several years ago, I gave those to my stepmom, and she made me a scrapbook that had pictures of everybody in it , that was a part of my family. It was the most cherished Christmas gift I ever got , because regardless of how old I get, or how much time goes by, I can always remember the good memories that we had together .

when cameras started being digital, and we didn't need film anymore, we were using SD cards and other camera cards to be able to hold as many pictures as we could. Gone were the days when we'd have to go down to a Rite Aid or a Walgreens or a CVS to be able to develop our pictures. Gone were the photo labs that we used to go to, and gone were a couple of camera shops that you always used to be around. During this time we would offload a bunch of pictures to our computers, and then print them out, and have them as files on our computers period this actually opened up a pretty good thing for me, because there were a lot of pictures that we had in our house, that brought me happiness and brought back a lot of memories. I was able to get a lot of those electronically transferred from my mom to me, because she has about 8 hard drives full of just pictures. So I do have some of my family members pictures, but I don't have as many as I used to. May have a lot of them on some of the backup DVD's and CD's that I haven't looked at yet when my dad moved, I was given a bunch of stuff to look at to see if there were pictures or if there were stuff that they wanted me to destroy, but when I find the ones that have pictures that I want to keep, I will make sure that I have them available.

One of the most important pictures of my life where taken when I graduated from Champlain College in Burlington Vt in 1995. That was the time when I was actually at the top of the mountain grabbing onto the flagstick and saying that I was able to complete one of my life goals: to be able to say that I went to school for 13 years, and then went to college for four more, so I was in school for 17 years, and on that day I got my degrees. I have a picture of me standing next to my father on the courtyard of one of our campus buildings, and it is the best picture I think I've ever taken. It is the only picture that shows my bachelor hood, being that I am a general business major it was sage green, or hunter green I'm not sure. Anyway, that picture it's something that I had been looking for since 1997, and it apparently had gone to my dad, and I thank God that he had it, because I wanted that picture and I couldn't find it. He brought me a frame of family photographs, and he keeps bringing me them, and I keep putting them up in my apartment so I have pictures of people who I still cherish, people that are no longer with us, and pictures of times when we're together as a family and having fun.

The beauty of being able to take pictures electronically is that you can transfer them from device to device. In the advent of the iPhone and other camera phones, most people don't even take a camera anymore, they just take an iPad or an iPhone or an Android device, or a tablet. They take pictures and then they have them in their picture collections, but with the sheer amount sizewise that these take up on storing media, it's a miracle if you have all of the pictures that you think you have period drivers go dead and things happen, but I am so glad that I have some of the pictures from my family, because without my dad and my stepmom spending time putting together that scrapbook, I would have limited pictures, but dad gave me several of my aunt Julie who is now deceased and of my grandmother Baker who is now deceased and of my grandfather Baker who is now deceased. When I look at those pictures and I see my cousins or other people that are close to me, brings back a lot of good memories, but I can't help but to think how much time has actually passed: just seems like yesterday time goes by so fast.

Many of you know that I have a disabled brother named Richard: I speak of him a lot because he helped me understand and have empathy and sympathy and understanding for people with disabilities and of disabilities, and taught me valuable lessons about life in general. Being the younger brother, it was a reversal, because normally a older brother, takes care of the younger one, but in my case I always was asked to make sure look out for him. When we were young, my mom took a picture of us both Richard and I, on the couch  in East Hardwick Vermont at our house.  We look like twinsies Colin me and him in the same shirt and in the same overalls, and it is a classic. As I age, every May 8th or so, my mom will put that in, and remind me of how much time has gone by, seeing how proud she is of me, and every time I see that picture it reminds me of times that might have been different, but it always makes me feel good because even in the worst of times, family helps one another, and in the best of times we have fun together. God says the reason why he gives us memories is because it helps us remember the good times and the times that you want to remember, and sometimes the bad memories are things that help you, but for the most part God gives you memory so that you can remember things that may not be the way they were, or to remember things in the past.

That picture and another one where I'm sitting naked in the middle of the living room with a diaper off, are two of them pictures that I always remember, the third one was when I was kneeling on the deck, and I had a diaper on but I had shorts over it. Those pictures will always be burnt into my mind, cause I can remember them clearly. Memories never die, but the people who we remember leave us when their time ends. Pictures allow us to remember things that meant something to us, or to remember the times when we might have been at our best, and sometimes, they remind me of things that make me a little sad.

Nonetheless, pictures are things that are really awesome to have. I have one picture that's in here right now that I cherish more than anything else. It is a picture of my dad my grandfather and my grandmother at a American Legion ceremony where they get their cards either a silver or a gold card. My uncle being a past commander already has a gold card, and because of all the service that he provided to the American Legion Post, my uncle is a life member and has been probably since about 50 years old maybe younger. My grandmother was a past commander, and she got her silver card in that particular picture and I still have it. It's the one picture that I'll always remember because my grandparents were spry young whippersnappers, and they really enjoyed themselves.

I also have memories of when I was a kid in east Hardwick, my dad would mow the lawn. He knew that I liked to spend time with him, so as much as possible, when he mowed the lawn, I was riding the tractor with him. I was either sitting in his lap, just like my uncle Jack did, or I'd be sitting on the hood facing him. When we moved from east Hardwick when I was four, my dad gave that lawnmower to my grandfather, his dad, and until my grandparents passed, that lawn mower comma which was an old craftsman comma was still being used to mow the lawn. 

That lawnmower was passed down from my dad to my grandfather, so that lawn mower actually has a lot of memories that I remember. There is also a picture of me and my uncle Jack riding the lawn mower when I was about 6 . Uncle Jack knew that I also like to ride the lawn mower so he made sure that I did that when he did the lawn. I always liked to hang out with my uncles my aunts or my cousins, because it was always fun to be around them , or to be able to do something that you normally don't get to do on a daily basis. All the memories

@FretaBWet it is weird how some things come all the way around full circle! I am glad that although you have been having some issues with your family, and that your sister thinks you are no longer with us, in her ridiculous thinking I guess, that you were able to get the pictures, and then you were able to see and remember things that were a part of your upbringing. Sometimes a picture like that can bring back a heck of a lot of memories, and put you right back into the situation where you can remember what you were doing where you were what you were eating, what the air smelled like, etcetera. I've had these dreams myself where I end up dreaming, and I actually smell the air and it actually reminds me of times past.I'm glad that you were able to get those pictures , because pictures allow us to always freeze in time events or things that we do .

there are a lot of things that you can do in your life. It is my hope that my life it's something that will continue for as long as I can actually do it, and that for each time something happens, good memories can always come from it. As I age, I also realize that I may be the guy that wakes up one day, and realizes one of my parents is gone, or one of my family members is gone. These are hard to do and to deal with, and each time it happens, it is really hard to deal with. For each person that I lose, I have to figure out a way in my head to make sure that I can deal with it. I may not process it right away, but I have to be able to deal with it. Pictures allow us to see those that are no longer here.

Pictures are awesome because it allows you to relive things that are in the past: movies are also better because then you can see in live action what it was like. When I sometimes go to YouTube I see old TV shows or old commercials, or flashbacks for each year of the decade. It is amazing to actually know what is a part of each decade, and how each decade changes. It's amazing how your memories of something, like when you walk into a kitchen, or a living room, and you can remember or you can envision a room that looks like a 1970s, and then be able to envision yourself within it. Any decade that you live in, changes happen, but pictures they're worth 1000 words, and movies well they're probably worth about a million.

Brian

[ValentinesStuff]

I converted my family's slide collection to digital. There are some fun pics in it. Including one with a pinned on disposable diaper, about 1970 vintage.

[PetahPetah]

We moved when i was 4 or 5. One rainy day  i got soaked. Mom said take off the wet things and she'd put it in the dryer. It was all wet!  So i was sitting on the couch nudie. A bit later, she took out the camera, got a shot of me, dad. And my older sister. I only put hands in front to hide for pic, didn't care if they saw, they had changed my ( cloth) diapers anyway. 

[2sail2]

I have a couple of me.  One was  on my tricycle trying to pull our camper.  My plastic pants are bulging out of my short shorts due to the thick cloth diaper. There is another photo of me sitting on indoor steps with my plastic pants and diaper hanging out (again wearing short  shorts).  I would guess I was three or even close to four in the photos as the next house we had, I was kindergarten.  Those were good times (non stop playing and not needing to worry about a bathroom).

[AbabeBill]

I have a precious few photos of my young self. There’s a noticeable gap, in timing of the photos taken. There are a number of photos of me, as a newborn, not allot. There are a few of me later, maybe around a year old, some were taken by family friends. Then, much less past 1 1/2- 2, 3 years. There’s pretty much a gap, after about 2 ish. Then there’s some, like first day back to school, some Halloween, birthday. 
I so wish, my parents would have taken more pictures of me, especially toddler age. I’d give anything, to see myself in say, just a shirt and my plastic pants. Or, when I had to wear a harness & leash in the yard! Lol, my parents missed out on lots of great opportunities, for those sorts of pictures. Maybe a contributing factor, to why I liked diapers, plastic pants. I wanted to get back, to seeing myself in them. ? Maybe if I had, had more pictures I wouldn’t have become ab/dl, NOT! ? 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

I do not know if that would be allowed since it would be a "real children" image and involving underwear. I gotr rid of all the toddler photos of me when I inherited them.  There were not any with rubber panties. There was one naked one, that was the first to go in the fireplace. None of them were color

Besides, If you want a picture of what I looked like as a little girl Most any of mine from here should do perfectly well. That is about what I looked like as a 6-2/3 - 9-3/4 year old girl except that most of the time, my dresses or skirts were a bit longer, usually just above the knee

[Lil Leo]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:54 AM, AbabeBill said:

I have a precious few photos of my young self. There’s a noticeable gap, in timing of the photos taken. There are a number of photos of me, as a newborn, not allot. There are a few of me later, maybe around a year old, some were taken by family friends. Then, much less past 1 1/2- 2, 3 years. There’s pretty much a gap, after about 2 ish. Then there’s some, like first day back to school, some Halloween, birthday. 
I so wish, my parents would have taken more pictures of me, especially toddler age. I’d give anything, to see myself in say, just a shirt and my plastic pants. Or, when I had to wear a harness & leash in the yard! Lol, my parents missed out on lots of great opportunities, for those sorts of pictures. Maybe a contributing factor, to why I liked diapers, plastic pants. I wanted to get back, to seeing myself in them. ? Maybe if I had, had more pictures I wouldn’t have become ab/dl, NOT! ? 

Hiii!

We are about the same era and I have noticed the same. People just didn't take pictures like we do now. Maybe it was expense or inconvenience (getting film developed ect....) I also know I ruined a couple of rolls of film as a little kid. Who knows what pictures were lost. Anyhow just kind of the same experience. 

?‍♂️

[AbabeBill]

7 hours ago, Lil Leo said:

Hiii!

We are about the same era and I have noticed the same. People just didn't take pictures like we do now. Maybe it was expense or inconvenience (getting film developed ect....) I also know I ruined a couple of rolls of film as a little kid. Who knows what pictures were lost. Anyhow just kind of the same experience. 

?‍♂️

Yes, some of the things you point out are very true. I think in my own case, when I think more about it. My dad had a fairly decent 35 mm camera, and also one of the earlier Polaroid 60 second cameras. My dad wasn’t around all to much, worked long hours, Saturday’s, and my mom was pretty busy at home, plus she wasn’t to savvy, or care to be, operating a somewhat complicated camera. And then, aside from the instant 60 second camera, it was a pain getting film developed, as you said. 

[Lil Leo]

1 hour ago, AbabeBill said:

Yes, some of the things you point out are very true. I think in my own case, when I think more about it. My dad had a fairly decent 35 mm camera, and also one of the earlier Polaroid 60 second cameras. My dad wasn’t around all to much, worked long hours, Saturday’s, and my mom was pretty busy at home, plus she wasn’t to savvy, or care to be, operating a somewhat complicated camera. And then, aside from the instant 60 second camera, it was a pain getting film developed, as you said. 

LOL whene I was a kid my parents camera was an old "brownie" then they "upgraded" to a Kodak instamatic with the flash cube on top. That was the last camera they bought. 

[Little Sherri]

A photograph of myself as a kid is what sent me back into "this" universe, after I'd been away from it for more than 20 years. I'd been a "DL" since I was very young, although at the time I didn't have the words to describe it, I just knew that I was "funny" about diapers from my earliest memories. As a 'tween and young teen, I made my own out of pillow cases and towels and such, until my stepfather found my stash and waved them around while yelling at me in front of my family, after which, I walked away from diapers for a couple of decades. I was flipping through one of my mom's photo albums at my parents' place, while she was organizing shoeboxes full of pictures, and I came across a picture of myself when I was maybe 6 or 7, standing in front of the Christmas tree in a diaper, and that was it, within a day or two, I'd gone and bought myself some pull-ups. Then later I bought whatever adult tabbed products I could find at drugstores - it actually took me another few years to think about searching anything related to this online, but when I did, what a paradigm shift. First of all, I realized I wasn't alone in the world, and, second, I discovered the incredible plethora of products available. To say I was astounded would be an understatement. 

That experience of flipping through old photographs is something that I fear will be lost to the next generation. People take more photos then ever now, with everyone carrying excellent cameras around in their hip pockets, all the time, but, most of those photos are never organized or categorized, and they're stored in password-protected servers, by the billions, and then devices and people die, or they switch platforms, and poof, years of photos... gone. Social media provides an archive of sorts, but, what happens to, say, your mom's Instagram or Facebook account when she takes the passwords to her grave?

Plus, the images most people tend to post are at least somewhat curated for public consumption. I guarantee, for example, that my mom, if she'd had a Facebook account back then, never would have posted a picture of me wearing a diaper, for all sorts of reasons - it's private, her sisters or friends might have commented negatively, "What's he doing still wearing diapers?!?!", that kind of thing. Whereas when you took a roll of film to get developed, you got (and paid for) every picture you took that came out - you didn't get to edit them until you'd bought them, so people tended to hang on to "real" photographs, not just the good ones, which gives history more depth. 

[foreverdl]

On 3/13/2023 at 8:15 AM, Little Sherri said:

A photograph of myself as a kid is what sent me back into "this" universe, after I'd been away from it for more than 20 years. I'd been a "DL" since I was very young, although at the time I didn't have the words to describe it, I just knew that I was "funny" about diapers from my earliest memories. As a 'tween and young teen, I made my own out of pillow cases and towels and such, until my stepfather found my stash and waved them around while yelling at me in front of my family, after which, I walked away from diapers for a couple of decades. I was flipping through one of my mom's photo albums at my parents' place, while she was organizing shoeboxes full of pictures, and I came across a picture of myself when I was maybe 6 or 7, standing in front of the Christmas tree in a diaper, and that was it, within a day or two, I'd gone and bought myself some pull-ups. Then later I bought whatever adult tabbed products I could find at drugstores - it actually took me another few years to think about searching anything related to this online, but when I did, what a paradigm shift. First of all, I realized I wasn't alone in the world, and, second, I discovered the incredible plethora of products available. To say I was astounded would be an understatement. 

That experience of flipping through old photographs is something that I fear will be lost to the next generation. People take more photos then ever now, with everyone carrying excellent cameras around in their hip pockets, all the time, but, most of those photos are never organized or categorized, and they're stored in password-protected servers, by the billions, and then devices and people die, or they switch platforms, and poof, years of photos... gone. Social media provides an archive of sorts, but, what happens to, say, your mom's Instagram or Facebook account when she takes the passwords to her grave?

Plus, the images most people tend to post are at least somewhat curated for public consumption. I guarantee, for example, that my mom, if she'd had a Facebook account back then, never would have posted a picture of me wearing a diaper, for all sorts of reasons - it's private, her sisters or friends might have commented negatively, "What's he doing still wearing diapers?!?!", that kind of thing. Whereas when you took a roll of film to get developed, you got (and paid for) every picture you took that came out - you didn't get to edit them until you'd bought them, so people tended to hang on to "real" photographs, not just the good ones, which gives history more depth. 

I am not really sure what age I stopped wetting the bed, my mom would not put us in diaper even if it meant her doing the was 2 times a day. As you can see I think in my page that my brother and I peed the bed into young school age. My dad was really into making fun with us so that is most likely why I hid any wet spot I would have done in my bed, I did however Love getting into my brothers bed and soaking up the pee on me. and getting hard as a rock.