‘Self-isolation: I thought my 86-year-old mother had suddenly lost it’

May 06, 2020
Chris was concerned about his mother's wellbeing after receiving a series of unusual text messages from her. Source: Getty Images

I always admired the way my mother enjoyed a very healthy and active social life. Until the coronavirus pandemic.

It was late one night when my worst fears were suddenly realised. I had just received a rather bizarre message from her. Then another message. “What was she on?” I wondered with growing concern. It was so out of character.

“You sure started this Chris,” her message began. “We are presently at the Holiday Inn in New Orleans!” she continued.

“What?”, I thought. “She’s in self-isolation at her unit in South Australia”.

Her messaged continued, “For some reason we are having drinks and nibbles at 3am. Prior to that the three of us are in bed singing ‘We wish us a Happy Christmas’ in 1990.”

That message was followed by another … “Now back home, all the little kids dancing! Magic times all the families and kids together, music blaring … Now Wes’s 66th birthday … Better stop this! Your fault Chris. Plus, you are about to leave for Canada … Goodnight!”

“Whoa!” I thought. “But why is she blaming me?”

Then the penny dropped. She had taken my suggestion to turn her social isolation into an opportunity. She had opened up all our old family VHS movie tapes and was reminiscing the good times of the past. Their overseas travels and family gatherings. Her messages were summarising some of those precious times! Yes, it was indeed my fault!

As we spoke about it later, she said it was a roller coast of emotions. Laughing with joy at the many happy family times. And some tears for all the fun times now long past and for those most dear to her that have since passed on.

Life may have moved on, but as for all these precious family memories, unfortunately time is against us. Experts suggest magnetic tapes have a lifespan of around 10-15 years before they begin to deteriorate. Which means if you want you or your children to enjoy this archive of all your special family memories in the future, the time to preserve them is now.

For years I have been wanting to preserve my own tapes by converting them to digital. Yet every time I thought about it, it just seemed so complicated, so the box of tapes stayed in the cupboard.

Thankfully, I recently came across a really easy solution. That simple I got so enthused about finally getting this job done. That’s why I contacted Mum to encourage her to also start preserving this big part of our family history.

This system I discovered is so straightforward I wanted to also share it with everyone while many of our normal activities are on hold. I put together a guide to provide the exact process I’m using. It’s simple!

What’s really exciting though, is once these old VHS movie tapes are converted to digital video files, it opens up new possibilities. Instead of all these precious family memories wasting away in a box, they can then be easily shared. Better still, it’s then easy to create a short video featuring all the highlights from the whole collection. To be enjoyed by our children, family and friends, whenever they want to. How great is that?

I hope this encourages others to also get started preserving their special family memories. Happy reminiscing!

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