Our move to Mexico – and the fact that we’re only taking what our van will carry – finally got me off my duff to handle a project that should have been done long ago.
At long last some old treasured family VHS tapes have been transferred to DVD. It will be fun to watch them again when we are settled in Mazatlan.
My dad being interviewed about food on the radio on Thanksgiving in the 1970’s is a treasure I enjoy listening to every so often.
But the thing I am really glad I did was have the tapes my grandmother recorded in the 1960’s transferred from cassette to CD. My aunt discovered the tapes long ago – old reel to reel ones – and had them transferred to cassette, which was the latest and greatest at the time.
The reason these tapes (now CD) are so significant to me is that they are my grandmother reminiscing about her childhood in Armenia from about 1908. She would never talk to us about those times, and we were all surprised and happy that she had given us that gift.
On the tapes she tells all kinds of charming memories of her parents and their large estate…but also of the terrible atrocities she and her family sufferred during the Armenian holocaust.
The picture above is after it all…my grandmother had found her cousin in Istanbul and this picture was taken as he was getting ready to leave for America. The outfit she is wearing was bought for her by her grandfather, the only other family member she had reconnected with at that time. (The picture is a scan of a color copy of the original…)
She ended up in France, and a set-up between her rooming-house owner and the owner of my future grandfather’s in New York resulted in marriage – and made her the dynamic, strong, matriarch of my family.
Brenda
July 18, 2007Very interesting. I love old family histories, it is so interesting to learn where you came from, isn’t it? Those tapes/CDs are a real treasure. How lucky you are to have them.
Ann
July 19, 2007Nancy,
I just finished reading all your posts. I love hearing the story of how you and Paul chose Mazatlan and why you decided to make the move. It’ll be fun keeping up with you as you move into your new house.
I live in Zihuatanejo, I’ve been here for over a year now and can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Billie
July 20, 2007Wonderful photograph. Don’t forget, keep copies on two CDs and in different locations. And also recopy to new CD’s from time to time.
From a paranoid photographer
sami
July 22, 2007What a great idea!
On a side note, I saw this article in the Toronto Star and thought about what you both are doing. Good luck with everything. Sami.
sami
July 22, 2007http://www.thestar.com/living/article/237503