•  "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened".   Mark Twain said that and as I get older I understand it better.  It seems that when we remember an event, our minds think we are reliving it and exchange the new "memory" for the old.  So each time you think of something that happened you "remember" it a bit differently, it is colored with whatever feelings or memory mistakes that you have.
•  Which brings me to the next point; we need to preserve our stories.  While I was growing up, I thought that my Dad's stories about his life were boring and he repeated them often.  Now I wish I had turned one of my video cameras on and recorded it.  We were smart enough to have done a little of that with Ginger's (Boomer Babe) dad, but we could have done a lot more.  We have about an hour of his stories; he had many days worth if we would only have kept shooting.  Now it is second or third hand and the "facts" are in the vicinity of the truth if not on the same block.  So I encourage all of you to sit your older family members down to tell their stories and you need to take a turn there as well.  I know at this point that we tend not to think our stories are that interesting and, of course, we will live forever… I have some suggestions for the technical aspects of this project, sort of my "Videographer 101' class:
• First, get a tripod for the camera!  It can be impossible to watch some shaky, hand-held videos.  It doesn't have to be too expensive, just work well with whatever size camera you have.
• Next, be sure you know how your camera works.  You may even have to go so far as to read the manual, but you want to be sure that Grandma isn't green.
• Then, get a microphone that plugs into your camera.  This will make the quality of your video so much better you will never want to be without it again.  It is amazing how much better it is viewing a video when you can hear and understand whoever is speaking.
• Think about the questions you want to ask before you start.   Don't be afraid to show something other than the speaker.  One interesting method is to begin with a short introduction with the speakers on camera then move the camera to a close shot of a family picture and have the person being interviewed talk about the picture.   If you do this, you can start and stop the camera when you change pictures (just don't forget to start it again). 
• Boomer Babble - "Thoughts at Large" are written by the Boomer Babble Guys, Charles Doug and John with occasional help from friends.  The Boomer Babble radio show is broadcast on WNAX 570 Sunday evenings at 5:00.  Visit us at BoomerBabble.com.