Home Videos

While at my uncle's house tonight, after the usual popcorn and chocolate shakes, my aunt decided to bust out the home movie of their wedding reception. Simply because I happen to be in it. I was two when my aunt and uncle were married, and my family and I timed our annual weeks-long road trip across country so that we would be in Iowa in time to go to their reception. The video of the whole thing is hysterical.

First, we showed up. Keep in mind this reception happened in 1992, so the styles were drastically different. My mother was rocking a peach dress with coke-bottle glasses and a perm, while my dad actually had hair and was using a camera that belongs in a museum. Carlton had a cute striped shirt and matching tie on, complete with a very severe part in his hair, and Derek apparently preferred the bow-tie look, though he followed in Carlton's footsteps as far as hairstyle goes. And then there was me. I was asleep in my mother's arms for the entire first half.

Well, then I woke up. And the first thing the camera catches me doing? Picking my nose. Luckily my mother noticed what was going on and quickly swatted my hand away before I could eat the result of my efforts on camera. Boy was I a classy child. The rest of the night I seem to be clinging to some pair of arms or another. I must have been grumpy, because I refused to be set down, except for about five minutes when we took a grandchildren picture with my grandma. And even then, my mom had to coax me to give up my death grip on her neck. I don't know what was wrong that night, but whatever it was made me quite the anti-social child.

But that's okay, because the video was still hysterical. Derek bopped around in his bow-tie the whole night, getting into everything, including the wedding presents. There was one adorable moment when the camera shows us holding hands during the five minutes of picture-taking I agreed to let go for. What a cute older brother! And Carlton with his sharp little outfit popping up in unexpected places. We were so darn adorable as little kids! I just love home videos, and I wish we had more of them back home. I'm grateful that those memories were preserved. Because really, why wouldn't I want a tape of me picking my nose?