I purchased two Holiday Boxes this past September. It was a deal I simply couldn't pass up. At the same time, FOREVER was running a promotion to digitize videotapes for just $15 each. I knew this was the perfect opportunity to finally digitize the stack of VHS tapes my mother had sitting around the house for years.

Each Holiday Box could hold up to eight tapes, so I quickly packed 16 tapes, following the easy instructions, and shipped them off to the FOREVER Digitization Center. Once my box was processed by the Digitization Center, I received a notification that my order would be completed by December 11, 2024.

I was eagerly counting down the days. I had no idea what was on many of the tapes, so when I logged into my account on December 12, 2024, I was in for a big surprise. My order was neatly organized into two albums in my permanent storage account. I was so excited! As I browsed through the albums, one video title immediately caught my eye: Margaret's Wedding.

Now here's a little backstory. Margaret was my cousin. As a child, she had polio, which left her mostly reliant on a wheel chair, though she could walk. She got married in 1990 and had two children with her husband. Tragically, Margaret passed away from breast cancer when her son was five and her daughter was three. Her husband, Isaiah, raised their two children with the help of family. He passed away about five years ago and was in his 80s.

Sarah, Margaret's daughter, remained close to her brother until tragedy struck in March 2024 - her brother, Isaiah Jr., was killed in a motor vehicle accident. With her nuclear family gone, I knew this past Christmas was going to be especially difficult for Sarah.

Thanks to FOREVER Digitization and FOREVER Streaming, I had the perfect gift for her.

I opened the video titled Margaret's Wedding, noted the start point, created a share link, and sent it to Sarah with the message: "Fast forward to minute 18:37."

About 20 minutes later, Sarah called me, crying hysterically. She was crying so much, I could barely understand her. I thought I did the wrong thing by sending her the video without speaking to her. I apologized, saying that I didn't mean to make her sad. She said, "No, Meka, I am so happy. I am so incredibly happy! There are no words that could describe what a gift this is. There is no gift that could be better than this gift."

And then she hit me with a doozy that had me crying. She said, "I didn't know my mother's voice!" WOW! I was in tears.

We talked for a little while longer, and then she left to finish watching the video - which was streaming from my FOREVER Account. About an hour later, she called me back. I could tell that she watched the video as if she were going to be quizzed on it. She had a list of questions. The most notable question she asked me was, "I see my mom fed my dad cake with her left hand. Was she left-handed?" She also commented on her mom's laugh, facial expressions, and sense of humor. What a wonderful gift we were given.

Sarah was only three years old when her mom died. While she had seen pictures of her mother, she had never seen her on video. The gift of FOREVER is truly priceless.

Although I am a FOREVER employee, I was - and remain - a FOREVER customer first. My order was processed on time and with care. These VHS tapes that were deteriorating and collecting dust for decades, are now providing the gift of memories to all of my family members. But most importantly, they gave Sarah answers to many questions, some of which she didn't even know she had.

This gift filled a hole in her heart at a time she needed it most. Thank you FOREVER! The combination of FOREVER Digitization, FOREVER Storage, and FOREVER Streaming is the perfect powerhouse.