Old videos

The house is actually picked up and presentable, and I have no place I need to be until I leave to pick up the boys from practice.  This is VERY rare these days, so I took a "me" day.  I allowed myself to sleep and sleep this morning.  I've done a couple of loads of laundry, but other than that I am pretty much just hanging out.  I had been wanting to watch some old videos for awhile, and decided today was a good day to do that.  The first one I watched was Christmas of 1989.  I heard my Dad's voice, and it made me teary...and it was just the beginning.  I watched a family reunion video from 1987, and so many of my great-aunts and distant cousins have now passed away.  I watched Thanksgiving of 1986 which was the very first year we had the video camera.  My youngest cousin was only two, and she was definitely the center of attention.  It was also the last year my maternal grandfather was alive and I'm so grateful for that video.  I was a little astounded as I watched Christmas of 1990 where I introduced myself as a junior...the very age Robert is now!  My favorite family video is my college graduation video.  It's the last video I have of my paternal grandfather (he became ill that fall) and in the video my dad is seen giving me a huge hug.  He also became ill that summer, although he survived for another 17 years.

There were also lots of videos with friends, and it truly warmed my heart.  So many videos had my friend Andy in them.  Even though he now lives in Chicago, we see each other whenever we can.  Which reminds me...it has now been 18 months and we need to try to plan another visit.  All of the friends' videos had Stephanie and Chad in them.  They are my two closest friends in the entire world.  I laughed so many times because we've always known each other so well, and so many things haven't changed.  I couldn't help but think about the night before my dad's funeral.  Andy was in town and staying at a motel in our hometown.  Andrew and I decided we would stay there as well because it was too much driving otherwise.  We managed to get a room right across the hall from Andy.  After we put the kids down, Andrew and I went over to Andy's room, and Chad and Steph were there as well.  We were able to hang out for several hours, and I remember feeling the greatest sense of peace that I could possibly imagine.  Chad and I had a conversation later that, outside of my immediate family, the three most important people to me in the entire world, were in that room that evening.  There is no other way I would've rather spent that evening.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to watch these videos.  I'm so grateful for the memories, and I'm so grateful for the reminders to cherish those who are still with us!