Legacybox and mom’s “first films”

It was typically a cold, dark winter’s night when my mom would bring out the movie projector to bring us some much-needed entertainment.  You see my mom was an amateur filmmaker back in the early 1960’s and my siblings and I were often the stars.  We loved watching the old 8mm films of us dancing, being silly and playing games while growing up.  It was wonderful entertainment, especially when we also got to eat popcorn while watching.

On my recent visit with my mom, she gave me her precious “first films.”  She kept them in a shoe box high up in a kitchen cupboard.  Years ago she told us she destroyed them after her divorce with dad in 1996.  Last spring, much to my amazement, she told me she still had them.  Now, I possessed her film reels.  I could not wait to tell my siblings about this incredible gift, but she told me I couldn’t.

Within days, I ordered a Legacybox to digitize the films.  I ordered a box to hold all 20 of the films.  Mailing and processing of 20 films was expensive but I used the RUSH promotion, for Rush Limbaugh, and saved $200.  A few days later I received an empty Legacybox in the mail.  My heart rate went up; excited at the prospect of seeing these films again after forty plus years.

First, I sorted the films chronologically as my mom hand wrote in the dates on many of them:  “Steve’s 2 year – 1st Year at Toddville,” “Christmas ’67 at Toddville,” “Art Tour ’72,” and “St. Louis Arch ’74.”  Others my mom labeled:  “First Films,” “Wedding,” “Halloween Party,” and “Bulldozer.”

Next, I applied the Legacybox barcodes to the movie reels.  The barcodes used to track the order.  The company also sent a return shipping label to place directly on top of the original shipping label on the mailing box.  It was an easy process but I was still nervous.  Was I really going to mail these precious old films to a company in Tennessee?  What if I never saw them again?

With the film reels packed in Ziploc bags and protected by plastic inflatable packaging, on October 29 I took my box of treasures to the UPS store.  In return I was giving a Drop-Off Package Receipt.  Now, I just had to anxiously wait.

On November 13, I received an email from Legacybox.  The original films and their new digitized format had shipped.  Again, my heart rate soared.

Today, they arrived.  I hurriedly opened the box which contained my mom’s films and the CD’s I ordered.  I put the first CD in the player and then watched about three hours of home movies from nearly 60 years ago.  There on the television screen in my living room I relived my first birthday, my first steps, family vacations, and Christmases.  I also saw film of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, and my father who passed away almost six years ago.  Mixed in with family was also video of pigs and flowers as I grew up on Iowa farms.

It was surreal to watch these films again and it will take a while for it all to sink in.  The films included everyone in my family except for my mom who actually shot the film.  Now, the hard decision.  How do I not tell my family I have her “first films?”

Have you used Legacybox?  If so, please leave a comment about your experience.

Note:  Legacybox currently has a 60% off discount for a limited time.  (Author is not receiving compensation from Legacybox for this blog post.)