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!
