Picture the scene –
Two days until the
birth and you still haven’t found a camcorder to replace the one the dog chewed
up a couple of weeks ago. You are getting frantic and your wife is getting more
and more worried – “What if we can’t record it?” She asks worriedly. “What if
we can’t capture our baby’s first moments on this world?”
You tell her not to
stress out about it and that you have one more place to check. You jump into
your car and drive to the Sony store in the next town, and walk out twenty
minutes later with the perfect camcorder. The birth goes well, and you are
standing there recording in high-quality video as your new-born son comes
screaming into the world.
Now it’s a year later and he’s taking his
first, tottering steps, trying to catch the dog. “Quickly!” Your wife whispers
to you, and you run upstairs like a madman and fumble around in the electronics
drawer so as not to miss it this amazing moment on film. Just in the nick of
time you find it, switch it on and bolt downstairs, to find your happily
gurgling son is even steadier on his feet and toddling along after the dog, who
is now looking slightly worried.
Laughing, you put a loving arm around your
wife and smile as your son falls down onto his bottom, looks surprised for a
second, then begins to howl. Your wife rushes over there to comfort him, and
you have caught this perfect moment on your Sony camcorder, to be relived
forever.
His first day of school comes quickly, and
so does his first school play – the camcorder comes out for each smiling and
slightly tearful event. The family holiday to Lanzarote when he’s seven is
recorded in its entirety, and so captured on film you have him standing against
backdrops of beautiful scenery, riding on camels, and paddling along in the
huge swimming pool at the resort.
Then comes his last day of primary school and
you are there watching his leaver assembly and recording as he stands up to
make a speech and accept a small certificate. Your wife is crying with pride,
and you can’t deny that your eyes are a little moist as well.
Before you know it he is off to university,
and as he is packing his bags he notices you playing around with the Sony
camcorder and surreptitiously catching flashes of film of him. You explain that
you’ve always recorded important events, and that you and his mother were going
to miss him when they went off.
He sounds curious about the film, so you show
him the very first one and soon it becomes a habit – every night you sit and
watch another clip with him, and explain its significance. Soon your wife joins
you, and watching the videos brings you much closer together than ever before.
When your son waves his hand and gets in his car to drive to university, you
know that you will miss him terribly, but will always be able to watch the film
you have of him and remember the adorable little boy he once was, as well as
smart young man he has grown up to be.
Of course, you and your wife are there at his
graduation ceremony, as is the camcorder. Two prouder parents there could not
be when he accepts his degree with First Class Honours. He comes rushing over
after the ceremony to hug you both and ask to see the film, and over a gorgeous
meal in a nice restaurant you show it to him. He asks that you record the meal
as well, which you do with a smile. He hugs his mum, displays the bottle of
wine and then records your wife and you as your toast your son and share a
kiss. It’s a perfect family moment, captured forever.
Before long, he tells you he’s met a girl.
You like her, and even more importantly your wife approves! About a year later,
they drive down and give you the news – they’re getting married, and would you
please come? Your wife starts crying, and you say of course. They stay for
dinner and the night, and you embarrass your son by showing his lovely wife to
be all the old recordings from when he was a child. The wedding is a beautiful
occasion, and when your son glances round you reassuringly lift the camcorder
up so he can see it, and he grins at you in a nervous, overjoyed and slightly
bewildered way.
A couple of years after that, you are
delighted to get another visit for a reason that is completely obvious as soon
as your son’s wife walks in. Your wife fusses over her, and they tell you the
due date, which is about seven months away. They leave after a couple of days.
You are hardly surprised at the phone-call
that comes seven months later. “Dad!” You son cries anxiously. “I need you and
mum to come quick! She’s due in a couple of days, and our camcorder is broken!”
With a smile, you tell him you will be there in a couple of hours. You tell
your wife, who immediately starts packing. The last thing in the bag is the
camcorder, which is about to start another generations worth of film.