Project

I've taken on a project of monumental proportions...

What is it?

In a downstairs closet at my parents' house, there is now a large empty space. Until March 2007, 33 slide boxes from 1964-1976 occupied two large shelves in that closet. Each box was featured titles such as: "College Days," "Summers in Hawai'i," "Trip to Montreal" "Summer 1976," etc. Back in the day, 35 mm slides were all the rage. Over the years, my dad broke out the slide projector one or two times so we've not seen all the slides in years.

My parents' 43rd anniversary is coming up this summer so I thought it would be a great present to have all slides converted to DVD. So now, after many hours and a borrowed light box from my friend/co-worker, i've now got the slides into 58 stacks of 50 slides. It has been a tremendous effort. Am now finding the energy to compile the accompanying soundtrack. Thus far, I've gathered tracks by: Bing Crosby, the Flamingos, Nat King Cole, Rene and Akemi Paulo, Dean Martin, Elvis, the Beatles, etc. Once this is complete, i'll be ready to send the box off to here, in Utah.

It has been interesting to see my parents' photos from their early years--in other words, the days before my brother and I came along. They had a full life before we came along--why would they not!? But still, it's interesting to hold up images of your parents lives pre-kids. Why would I imagine that life began for them when we arrived? They were like any other young married couple--starting new jobs, buying their first home, hosting New Years parties, taking silly pictures of each other, taking care of a dog...

The baby shots of my brother and I are untraditional. There are no shots of a mother cradling a red and shrivelled newborn and celebrations amongst balloons and cigars. No pictures of a proud papa posing on the side of a hospital bed.

Our baby pictures showed a different kind of slideshow--the first of the series shows my parents posing in front of the airport, next you see an airplane rolling into the gate, then traveler's aide workers carrying babies and toddlers, and finally, big smiles of the new parents who've just been handed over their new babies.

Hopefully, i'll get these slides ready to be sent out by the end of this week