Voices From The Past

When my Mom stopped at my house on her way down to south Texas for the winter, she left this carrying case in my living room and it sat there the whole time she was there. But I didn't touch it or open it while she was there because I thought it was hers, so I just ignored it.

When she was leaving, I thought she was forgetting to take it with her, so I told her she left it in the living room. She said "Oh no, that's for you. That's the video camera that Dad used before he died. There are several tapes in that bag, but I couldn't figure out how to use it." HOLY CRAP.

Up until this point, we have had NO recordings of Dad - nothing on audio OR video....just pictures. She had mentioned this video camera before, but I kept forgetting about it. But now that I finally had my hands on it, I was really nervous and excited to see what was on the tapes. I knew that one of the tapes was Dad recording at their house up north - a tape they were going to give Kristi since she lived far away in Arizona.

PROBLEM - the tape that is in the camera is STUCK. I cannot get the tape holder thingy to open! So anyway, I hooked up the camera to my TV and hit play.............

The tape in the camera was from 1998 - just a few months before Dad retired from Amoco Oil (now BP). He was narrating the tape, so he's not visible in the recording, but just to hear his voice nearly took my breath away! I haven't heard his voice since he died in January 2003, so this was monumental and emotional.

I never in a million years thought that somebody narrating engineering/repair details at a gas station would have me absolutely riveted and glued to my TV! I initially thought that when I heard his voice on the tape, that it would sound foreign or not like him, or that I didn't remember his voice exactly like it was.....but I was proven very wrong. His voice was just like I remembered it - almost like he died yesterday. It seemed so natural to hear it, not alarming or disturbing....just like Dad stopped by and it was totally normal to hear him.

What a gift in those silly little videotapes! Now I have to figure out how to change out the tapes so I can watch the one of Dad showing the viewers around their house in northern Minnesota - much more exciting content than gas station repairs!