I don't know how it is for the rest of you but sometimes I get caught up in
who my mother is now and I forget who she was.   It's been so many years
since this awful disease was diagnosed in my mother.  Thirteen years and
counting.
My grandparents started a yearly family reunion back in the early 50's and
I've always gone but it really wasn't something that I really wanted to do.
Now I'm one of the oldest of my generation and I've taken over in the
organizing the reunion and become keeper of family information.   I knew if
I didn't, this family tradition would probably die.   Since my hobby is
computer technology, it makes my job fairly easy.  At our last reunion a few
weeks ago, I made a family DVD complete with old and new pictures with photo
transitions and music.   I bought along a LCD TV and DVD player and played
this 18 minute show for the duration of the reunion.  We've rented the same
community building for the past 50+ years.   I knew my mother's cousin
(John) who 80 Years old had taken 8 MM movies and video tapes over the years
at the reunion.   When he saw the DVD he offered me his movies.   He had
transferred the 8 MM to video tape.   I told him I would convert all his VCR
movies over to DVD and copy all the paperwork he had.   Some of it was
records dating back to the civil war.   I've been busy.   When I was editing
a group of movies, I came across John's wedding in 1948.  He and his wife
are still reasonably healthy BTW.   Anyway I didn't realize that 8 MM was in
color back in '48 but it was.   In the first few minutes of the movie, my
mother and father were leaving the church after the ceremony.   My mother
was 28 years old.....so young and beautiful.  I had almost forgotten this
woman but a lot of memories came back in that short clip of film and my
father too.   He's been gone for nearly 3 decades.  Later on there was 15
minutes of movies taken from 1957 thru 1960 of all of the family reunion.
So many gone.....so many in their 70's and 80's with various illnesses
including dementia -- my mother and John's sister.  The old cars, the games
we played outside and generally having a good time.   A young cousin who was
a beautiful 3 year old running and playing with a balloon only to die of
leukemia a few years later.  I've made a new family DVD and included these
movies ....it's now 50 minutes long but a labor of love.   I guess I liked
those family reunions after all......June