Memories
I have no memory of my mother. She was killed in a car accident 18 months after I was born. Until this year, I had seen only still photographs of her, mostly formal portraits taken to further her modeling career. They were beautiful but austere. I had no idea what our interaction as mother and daughter had been; no clue as to the relationship she had with her father, my grandfather, who had divorced my grandmother when my mother was a teenager.
The footage I received was a miraculous gift and more clearly defined each of these questions. Film is so much more telling than a still picture. I like to think now that the fine relationships I have with both my daughters are perhaps what I might have had with my mother, had she lived. And, it makes me realize what a wonderful thing it is to love and be loved, no matter when it happens—no matter how brief.
The following is something I edited from the footage I received (God bless iMovie). I posted it to YouTube so that my relatives, those who knew my mother and those who did not, could get to know her better.
Robin F. Gainey 
Hi Robin,
I was in a Dr.’s office a few days ago and came upon a house in a local magazine that I thought might be yours. I came home and did a little “surfing” and your name came up on this site. How surprised I was to see the video of you and your mother. As a young girl,I remember gazing upon her picture in awe whenever I would visit Cousin Frances. Her photo always had a prominent place on the end table next to her couch. Your mother was so beautiful; she looked like Grace Kelly, I thought, and I often wished I could have known her.
What a treasure you have in that video. Thank you for sharing it…
Jennie