Part of my preparation for the wedding is looking backward to look forward. The decorations will be made from old pictures, which, when reviewing, automatically leads to funny stories or fond feelings about the picture. Last weekend, as part of the reminiscence, we decided to pull out some old videos of the family. The most popular is my Dad's infamous quote "Peddle-Peddle-Peddle-Peddle-Peddle-Peddle-" to my sister as he ran along holding her bike upright, stopping only when she fell off. No matter when it's said, it always garners a laugh.
Part of the trip down memory lane was unexpected. The videos made me realize that all my memories of my brother have unfortunately decayed to still-life representations from pictures. I remember some of his quotes, but the vocalization of him saying it gets lost quickly. The videos brought back the tone in his voice, which carried his care-free attitude and the lingo of the decade. It was also beneficial to sit in a third person position, to see him make the down and out move, and to see myself react and toss a wounded duck ten feet short of the end of his route. (I didn't have a good arm in 1986.) It's hard not to extrapolate what life would be like now with him around. The ever unanswerable 'what if' comes up way too often.
However, the old videos have recreated the need for new, modern video recording, and I hope we'll be able to capture the new events, and update the original, precious memories digitally to save for another walk into the past.