Growing up, it seemed like Grandpa John had that huge camcorder glued to his shoulder. He would video tape everything from cross country meets, babysitting us, hunting expeditions, and even dad plowing the field or cutting firewood. Not a minute of our childhood was missed.
I remember when we went to Best Buy around 2005 to get Grandpa a new camcorder, one that did not use video tapes. He dropped off Grandma Viv, Anna and I to go pick out the newest and best they had. In the store, we got to pick from about five different styles. The changing world of electronics made camcorders almost obsolete, and they were all drastically different from what he had in the 90’s. Because Grandpa has big hands, we chose the biggest style, still only the size of my teenage palms. We ran to the car, excited to show Grandpa his new, upgraded toy. He looked it over and in all seriousness he exclaimed, “that’s a nice battery but where’s the camera?!” He tried as hard as he could, but never really wrapped his head around the new technology. That’s when the taping stopped.
Just a couple months ago, I found myself watching “Christmas of ‘92.” Watching how I interacted as a child was almost a mirror image of watching Cambri now. Hearing the laughs and voices of Uncle Harvey, Great Grandma Azalia and Grandma Viv, all of whom have since passed, made my heart so happy. I want my kids to share these memories, and have memories of their own to reminisce on. I have made it my personal mission to create a video montage for all of our vacations, to create lasting memories of our cherished family time.
On November 17, after Cambri’s dance class, we headed north for Birch Run, Michigan. Good weather, no traffic, and cooperative kids put us at Matt’s mom’s house in 13 hours…not even stopping for the night. I could break down every activity from every day, and every family member or friend we encountered, but it is too much to explain. I packed it all into a twenty minute video, so let that do the talking. Find my YouTube Channel by following the link HERE.
Amber Launstein 