A Little Piece of My Life
So after looking through DVDs for literally hours upon hours, I was able to put together a relatively short video of some parts of my life. I am so thankful to my parents for filming throughout my life so I can go back and see myself from years ago.
I decided to do a video with a bit of a narrative in writing, which I'll type here. I'll try to remember what I was doing and explain certain things you might not understand, just a little more information on my life.
http://youtu.be/0xv0ZhGzFNc
So the video starts out on my third birthday. I received one of the best gifts any kid my age could want, one of those carpets that is a cartoon-ish town to drive Hot Wheels and other toy cars on. I remember spending so much time with that thing, I loved it. I had a huge collection of Hot Wheels with carrying cases and everything. The other thing I really remember from this is the tool box I was playing with at the very start of the video. It had all different kinds of tools and a vice, along with working plastic screws and nails. It was pretty legit, I'm not going to lie. I also noticed that when my Dad says "Happy Birthday," I reply "Happy Birthday." Not the brightest kid ever.
The second and third clips are from my Baptism. I really can't tell you much about this because, well, I don't remember any of it obviously. The church itself means a lot to me, it's Blessed Sacrament Church in Johnson City. My Dad grew up going there and my parents got married there. I went to Sunday school and was part of the church until the flood in 2011 when it finally closed down.
The next clip is in the church parking lot right next to the park, where I spent almost every single Sunday. My Great Grandfather lived across the street from the church and every Sunday my whole family got together and had lunch after church and just talked. All of us kids mostly went to the playground. My cousins and sister are riding bikes while I'm pushing around a lawn mower thing. You can see my dog (Dixie, a dachshund) in the back walking around. Probably the best dog we ever had.
The next clip is short but I HAD to include it because I literally burst out laughing when I first saw it. I was always a klutz as a kid and not too observant, I just don't know how I didn't see something that big.
The next few videos are an island the place we go on vacation every year for 2 weeks, Black Lake, NY. Our family has been going for generations, ever since my Grandfather was a kid. No other place has ever meant so much to me. This year is bittersweet because it's the first year I won't be able to go, as I'm interning at Lockheed Martin in Owego full time. I started Monday, and I love it, but it's still sad not to be able to go. I know I was young in this video, but I really remember this picnic clearly.
Next is the camp we used to stay at, The Pines. We got to know the owners really well and we went up for years at the same camp. Sadly, the owners split up and the camp ended up closing and is still closed, so we had to find a new camp. We've been to several different ones but we finally found one that we've been going to for about 5 or 6 years, McLear's.
The interior of our cottage is shown next, with me having a conversation with my Dad about napping and going to the "Sandy Place." It's a part of the lake we always go to where there's nice sand and we often spend hours at with family on our boats and in the water, just relaxing. It doesn't have an actual name, but we just went about calling it that because we were young and then it stuck and we still call it that today.
Next, the end of the picnic is shown, right before we go to the "Sandy Place." I'm rushing everyone because I want to get there.
And of course, next is the "Sandy Place" itself. Every year we have a great time there just relaxing, starting tubing sessions there, swimming out to the deeper parts of the lake, kayaking, etc. It's a great place, and I hope to bring my future kids there. And in the video you get to see me be a brat and try to wipe sand on my mom after she tells me "no" several times :).
The next video is from one Easter, I just thought it was funny because I'm trying to take my sister's eggs from her basket and put them in mine because I couldn't find many. That's just the kind of kid I was I guess.
The next video had to be my sister's birthday because our family and some of her friends are there, and the fact she's opening gifts. It just kind of gives an overview of my family. You can see my Grandpa grabbing my foot and just messing with me in the background. He's always been a fun guy.
My love of Batman shows in the next clip, I'm ecstatic about getting a "Mr. Freeze" action figure. I remember the action figure but I don't remember the Easter I got him. I had to show him around to my Dad and my sister because I was so excited.
I had to include this next clip because my Mom thinks it's hilarious and brings it up whenever she can. Instead of wanting to eat the chocolate dinosaurs in the box, "I want to bite them."
I seem to have a lot of Easter clips, but here's a clip with family and family friends in our yard searching for eggs. Again, not super interesting but just shows some of the people in my family who you'll recognize throughout the video.
And fast forward to I think 2004? Maybe 2005 or 2006. I'm honestly not sure. Whenever the Nintendo DS came out, but I was super happy to get it for Christmas and had to explain to my Dad what a big deal it was, which he in turns makes fun of me for.
The final clip shows me during my Confirmation. I didn't really add anything more recent than that (other than pictures) because it's supposed to be about my past. Not too much to say here, but I didn't get Confirmed in Blessed Sacrament because every other year we did Confirmation at a church we were partnered with, Saint Vincent's, and my Confirmation fell on a year that we did it at their church.
The pictures show just some fun parts of my life. The discovery center, then at the Nanticoke Fire Station, which we held a lot of family parties at and my Grandfather helped build. My first Communion is included, as well as a Christmas from long ago. The next picture somehow got corrupt when the video compiled but you can see it for a second when it's fading. I used to always get buzz cuts and on vacation my dad gave me a very lopsided fauxhawk just for fun because I wanted to. He shaved it off later that day. Next, I'm getting a caricature done by Jon Ed Bon Fed at the Blind Tiger Pub during a benefit, Jared Campbell was just starting out and played at it. I met him first back then. Next is me and one of my dogs, Sammy, back in Junior year of high school I believe. After that it's me driving our pontoon boat quite some years ago. The next sequence of pictures are from my Senior year of high school with a lot of my very good friends, and it continues onto a few pictures from prom with my date and friends. After is a picture from Maryland after a performance we did for our show choir in school at a competition that we won first place in, and the next couple is from Johnson City's Musical in 2012 of Guys and Dolls, which I had a lead in as Arvide Abernathy, as well as a random crapshooter as they were low on the "guys" part of Guys and Dolls. Our class couldn't afford a senior trip sadly, so we decided to make our own. Me and one of my best friends, the girl underneath me, set up a trip to Cole Park with everyone invited from our Senior class. Of course not everyone showed up, but a good amount of people did (more than are in the picture) and we had a cookout, swam, fished, went in boats, had a really great time. You don't need a lot of money to have a great time. Next is me and my three best friends, Stephen, Katie, and Collin, left to right. Out of everyone from high school they're the only ones I really was able to keep close contact with, and I'm very grateful for that. To end the video, I wanted to throw in a few family photos because my family is what means the most to me. They've supported me in everything I do and I wouldn't be who I am without them. My parents, sister, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, everyone is so close. We're a lucky family to be mostly based out of Johnson City and be so tight knit.
Well that was a small look into my life. It might not give you too much but I think, especially with an online class, this means more than just typing words about myself. You get to see faces, actions, emotion. A lot more than you can show with a keyboard and a screen.
