Video memories

Words 500

“Oh, put the bloody camera down, Frank. Can’t we do anything without you taking videos?” Tina glared at her husband as he zoomed in on his wife’s face, just as she was about to take another bite from her birthday cake.

The whole family were having a picnic in the park to celebrate Tina’s birthday. The weather had been particularly kind, and the sun was shining out of a clear blue sky.

Tina’s mother, smiled fondly at her son-in-law, “You’ll be able to look back at this day when you’re my age. You’re so lucky to have that. ” She pointed at the video camera. “In my day all we had were black and white photos.

Frank zoomed in on Grandma Gladys, “ Go on Glad, sing happy birthday then,” he coaxed.
Gladys obliged, singing loudly off key, “Oh lord Mum, what a racket!” Tina complained.

Tina and Frank’s kids were busy doing roly-poly’s down a grassy incline in the park. Frank went off with his camera to film them.

“Honestly Mum, don’t encourage him, I get sick of him sticking that camera in my face all the time,” Tina moaned. He thinks he’s a bloody film director.”

“It makes him happy Tina. I wish we’d had videos, when you and your brothers were little.” Gladys sighed.

“Yeah, I suppose it’s progress. It’s almost 1980, and who knows what they’ll invent next?”



“Smile Grandma, happy birthday!” Tina’s large family were all at her house to celebrate her seventy-fifth birthday. Her teenage grandchildren were keeping themselves amused, texting, and taking selfies on their iPhones.

Tinas daughter, Sarah, gave her Mum a hug, “Dad would have loved to be here today Mum,”

“He would Darling, he’d be filming it all. He would have been amazed to see these latest phones and the ease with which everyone can take videos on them these days.”

A tear rolled down her lined face as she thought of Frank, who’d died so many years before, “He used to carry that heavy camera around with him. The battery was as big as the camera. I have so many videos, I don’t know what to do with them.”

“Do you still have the old player Mum?”

“Yes, but the question is, does it still work? It’s been years since I’ve watched a video cassette.”

“I tell you what, I’ll see if I can get our James to take a look at it. See if he can get it working then we can let the kids see what we looked like when their uncle and I were kids,” Sarah smiled, “ It’ll be an education.”

An hour later the family were gathered around the television, Sarah’s son James, had managed to get the old player working, and the kids were asking for more.

“Ha ha, Granny, you look funny,” ten year old Peter laughed at a video of Sarah and her brother rolling down a grassy slope.

James slid another cassette into the machine.

There on the screen appeared, Tina, eating a piece of her fortieth birthday cake, and her mother Gladys, who’d died ten years ago, was singing Happy Birthday, off key.

“Oh lord Mum, what a racket!” Tina heard her young self say.

Everyone laughed, and Tina whispered, “Thank you Frank. I miss you.”