“ 4 -Sundsy, May 19, 1985 - North Shore News Hunter g family pressures camera. Family pressure. Couldn’t resist any Pe broke down and bought a video movie longer. Of course, | was as mucha part of the pressure as anybody. I’ve wanted one of those suckers since before they were invented. What is it? Narcissism? The urge for immortality? Whatever it is, there’s a market, To buy one of these gadgets you have to get in line. The stores can’t keep them in stock, even though you're looking at shelling cut a couple of thousand bucks, at least by the time you gel the absolute must accessories. In my wife’s family, there was a pioneer along these lines — Grandpa Dick. He had the savvy, way back in the early 50's, virtually as soon as they became available, of buying a hore movie camera, projector, editing machine and viewing device. Collector’s items now, of course. Result: When Grandpa died, we inherited a dozen cans of film showing my wife’s family cavorting around. And not just the family. There’s the old homestead that’s barely more than a memory to anyone alive. Gosh. There’s the back lane. Amazing. There’s Tramp, the dog! Ah. There’s the neighbour’s house before it was torn down. Gee.:And, oh no, there’s Dad in that tie he got from Aunt So-and-so! Hokey stuff? You bet. Essence of family album. To an outsider, absolutely dull, dull, dull. But to anyone in your tribe, wow! Grampa Dick had the right instinct. He left us a fabulous treasure. Here’s something that hasn’t quite been wiped away by time, even though it’s scary how many of the people aren’t around any longer. A family record in film is ‘more than just indulgence, as you may have guessed. It’s a kind of therapy. It helps to bond people. We don't live in villages any more, yet the urge to be a genetic part of something more than n eadline:: Persons. who Saply after the eadline, but-before:in Person egistration,. will receive a lower priority in the. registration: sequence. Call: 986-1011 local 443 for further strictly personal by Bob Hunter yourself has never quite ebb- ed. This sort of thing helps the process enormously. Years ago, in a cousin's at- tic, 1 found a box that had belonged to my late father. it contained bulky, ancient velvet-bound albums, their surface worn dull, left to him by HIS father. Suddenly, I had a window into the past, going back perhaps four generations. i say “‘perhaps’’ because no names or dates had been written in the albums. It was very, very frustrating. So many of the faces looked vaguely familiar, even if all Vd seen were echoes in somehody’s cheekbones a generation later. There was one face in par- ticular that stood out: A gentleman whom I guessed must be my great- grandfather, whose bone structure, hairline, mouth, eyes and nose were so similar to my own we might have been twins. It was like look- ing into a mirror, back through time. Weird. But pleasant. It felt good, somehow, to know that I came out of some context, information. ives in to that I, too, had roots. Nobody on my side of the family ever. got it together to buy a movie camera and so, Sike 99.9 percent of humanity (more than that, actually) there is no film record of my clan, only snapshots. And here we are, heading into a third generation since home movie cameras came on the market, still without anything but snaps and stills and slides. Babies are only babies once. Great grand- parents only live so long. Children metamorphose into teens and that’s it, childhood is gone forever. It seems criminal not to get a record, the best record possible, tc pass along. Already, 1 notice, sepia pic- tures of my grandparents have acquired a_ strange power. A fragment of their personality has come loose, like a leaf, and wafted across an entire century for me to hold. Nothing remains of them but those frozen images. For that, I’m thankful. But think how thankful the grand- children — however far in the future you can imagine — will feet about having actual! videotapes of their ancestors back in the primitive 20th Century! So let’s put on a show, folks. Try to think of this asa time capsule. With sound. Problems? Call us at 875-O277 Pacific Hearing Clinic 514-2525 Willow St. at Broadway Hours: 9-7 Mon-Sat Neil Walion MSc. Audiologist Harold Jonzen MSc, Audiologist. collision Datsun Toyota | SEAVICE CENTRE FOR TH 1525 Welch St. N.V. {all make mechanical repairs) Free (BY APP’T) Rental Car ICBC CLAIMS = Handled Promptly All Paint & Body work Fully Guaranteed For appointment call Mike Ruggies RITCHIE iE : AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY surely we have some messages here to pass along? How about you over there, Grandma? Speak! $g00 42 nehes S G0 $4 gee 10 inch PIZZA aiinches Any number of toppings to choose from, § Order your own creation. 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