My grandfather loved documenting moments in his family life and was proud of his job as a federal employee which allowed us to live and work overseas. The opportunities this afforded were many and varied. I was reminded of this as I watched a DVD of a small number of the previously reel to reel movies. Created by my uncle and given me as part of a package of memorabilia that arrived yesterday, these were completely new to me. The segments start from about 1946 when my mother was eight and her siblings two and four.
Apart from seeing my mother and her siblings, first as very small children, and through years into their teens, I am in the final segment as a young baby being fed, laughing and playing with my grandmother while my mother remains in the background. The final scene features my young mother holding my arms and standing me up at the edge of the shore at what my uncle says is the bottom of Fort San Lorenzo, Panama, which overlooks the Chagres river, a body of water discovered by Columbus in 1502.
A sixteenth century fort and village with a lengthy and interesting history, Fort San Lorenzo was used as a transport point for gold destined for Spain from Peru until Henry Morgan, a rather infamous pirate, launched the attack which left the fort and surrounding area in ruin. Once abandoned, the fort was subsequently used for a time as a prison. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
You can read more about this online, if you happen to be a history buff. I was fortunate to have grown up surrounded by all sorts of history which as an older child sparked an interest still with me today.
Seeing this as an almost sixty-year-old reminds me not only of times and people gone by, but how much life truly offers us above hardship, politics or problems if we simply take the time to notice.
Cheers!
17 comments:
What a wonderful thing to be able to see things like that from your past. We don't have any movies in my family and just handful of pictures of my parents in their younger days. And let's just say as the third child, there aren't that many of me either. :)
What a wonderful treat to receive a package like that in the mail.
I didn't know my grandparents (or any other relatives) on either side and am feeling the loss quite markedly as I age.
I hope your week is filled with such joys.
Those movies are a treasure. Sounds like your young life was quite interesting.
What a terrific post and a wonderful gift. I wish that my family had had movies when I was very small but it was not one of the things my parents ever got into.
My family took photos, slides and movies and my uncle is attempting to put what he can on DVD.
Oh dear...Are there any to be found? Thanks as always for your kind words.
I lived in Panama from my infancy through age 19 and it was an interesting [lace and time,
Thanks. I hope you were able to document your family in other ways.
That is an extraordinary thing to be gifted with. I wonder if you feel more viscerally connected to your history watching everyone who led to you.
I might have had there been more than snippets on a screen, There was no narration though my uncle then in his late teens, remembers that day as very pleasant and just months before he left home for his adult life.
How amazing to be given this footage! The rare times I've had access to photos that are new to me, it's like finding treasure. I have some film of my childhood and even the machine to play it on but I'm afraid to try in case it's too fragile and I ruin it.
Lucky you. My first and very jealous stepmother, destroyed every film and photo of us and our mum and dad, such a shame. Luckily both grandparents had just a few photos to give us.
Try Legacy Box and see if they can be put on DVD.
Thank goodness your grandparents were able to give you some photos. It is a shame your stepmother did not think of you before she destroyed things from your original family. Thanks for your visit!
Thank you for visiting my blog - your comments and continued interest are a pleasure.
So too would be recieving film of my forefathers. I have but a handful of photographs - though this is more than almost of all those who preceded me had.
What an amazing gift! How cool to be able to see that family history first-hand! It must have been so surprising.
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