Last October I was part of a panel about photography that Michael Wilson put together. I talked about the importance of photos in context of a book I made for my mom’s life celebration earlier that year.
My friend Erik from California was in the audience that evening. He thought it was a moving story and encouraged me to try and recapture the audio portion.
So I rambled for 9 minutes into a microphone, sent it along and filed it away.
A year later Erik said he had my birthday gift ready, it was up on Vimeo whenever I was ready… I waited til the day of my birthday. We shared a video connection for the premiere.
I had no idea what I was in for. By the time it finished I could barely whisper, “Thank you.”
So many powerful feelings of remembrance, and tears. He transformed my words with images from the book, added video from his home in the mountains of California and added type from my mom to bookend the piece.
I’m so glad this short film exists. If you’re feeling sturdy, or less than sturdy for that matter, here it is:
We’ve received heartfelt notes from folks who were moved, some from recent loss. There were asks for recipes and clarification (what was on her list of favorites?) Here’s a snapshot of one page.
The book itself was printed by Blurb. Highly recommend their service. In fact, here you can look through the pages (I recommend clicking the arrows to make it full screen):