Cassettes 2 CDs in Seattle saved my memories

Thank you, Cassettes 2 CDs! I sent about 30 cassette and VHS tapes to a little company in Seattle, and they worked their magic and sent back all the originals along with CDs and DVDs. As I type, I am listening to the CD of the tape that was the impetus for this project: an interview I did in 1997 with my grandparents about WWII. It's pretty amazing to hear my grandfather's voice again 4 years after he died, and to know that this CD will last much longer than the cassette.

My Grampy was a very very smart man; a math degree and a PhD in psychology. He wrote IQ tests for the army that could be administered to illiterate enlistees. But, as I think most grandchildren would say of their grandparents, I didn't know much about them, and still don't know as much as I'd like, but the things I learned in this interview (as narrow as it was subject-wise) blew me away. My Grampy worked in the army in NYC writing his tests, and commuted in from NJ. The picture I have of my grandparents is either in Oxford, MS, or Valley Forge, PA, doing their parental/grandparental thing. It's also interesting to hear the interaction between my Grammy and Grampy, and to compare that to the way my Grammy acts now. She depended on him to complete all of her missing memories: cities, dates, names. Now her memory is worse and he's not around to help. I think each of those factors exacerbates the other.

Other tapes and videos I had converted: old tapes I recorded at parties, some performances in sound booths at amusement parks, my brother's wedding video, the compilation of all of my college videos... and now I'm listening to the CD made from the recordings I did of myself playing the piano. Good foresight, seeing as I don't know if I'll ever have such a repertoire ever again. I can still play bits and pieces of the songs, but I bet I'd need to take lessons again to whip myself back into shape. Moonlight Sonata, Reverie, Maple Leaf Rag... I must say, I wasn't horrible. Not great, but not bad either. I had my moments and enjoyed it toward the end. After 10 years of lessons I actually started to enjoy playing! Maybe I never considered quitting because my grandmother (not the one mentioned above) was a pianist and I felt like she was watching me.