In my first post I described how I procrastinated making a video biography of my Father. I promised myself I would help others not make the same mistake I did. My Mom is always asking me if I have any video with my Dad talking. She longs to hear his voice since he passed away 6 years ago. Unfortunately, I have found very little footage of him speaking.
A few months ago I was cleaning out my storage shed and stumbled across an old radio shack micro cassette recorder. I was ready to toss the thing in the trash but for some reason I pressed the play button first. To my surprise this piece of antiquated equipment worked. The batteries must have been energizer batteries because this thing was stored for years in my garden shed in the hot and humid environment of South Florida. What surprised me even more was my Dad's voice was coming from this ancient device. I instantly got chills, it had been over six years since I heard him talking. Evidently he carried this little recorder and would make notes to himself about his business competitors. After he retired, he bought a coin laundry and would drive around to other laundries in the area and comment on their price, cleanliness, amount of customers etc.. It was not the most earth shaking commentary, but it was my Dad.
The point I want to make is this: Do not let the moment slip by!!! If you do not have a video camera, dig out an old cassette recorder or hook up a cheap computer microphone to your computer and get the interview with your loved ones. Afterwards you can save the audio as an mp3 and mix it into a slide show. In future posts, I will show you how. Suddenly, a little piece of crap recorder becomes a priceless treasure.
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