Lost tapes!

And this is what I wrote on 9 February, 2009, about the loss of Steve's tapes:

Steve has now spoken to his mother about the cassettes and I'm afraid it's not good news. She had them all until her own mother became ill a couple of years ago and went into residential care, at which point they had to clear a lot of stuff out and the tapes were thrown away. It's strange - I keep fretting about it as if it was something of mine that had gone into the trash!

I'm not sure what I think about it really. I'm quite intrigued by the idea of a lost archive. I mean, the truth of it is that people often do look for reminders of the past only to find that they were thrown away at a time when no one thought they could possibly be of any interest. (I've thrown away letters that I now wish I'd kept!) And I've been wondering if it might be possible to involve some of the family in reflecting on the messages they sent each other and, especially on the way the tapes became the focus of family meetings - sort of create a new text by asking them to talk about old ones.

I don't know what you think about this? As I say, the *truth* of it appeals to me - moving out from ourselves and accepting what there actually is (or isn't). On the other hand, it could result in quite heterogeneous material.

I've also asked my own parents whether they have recordings of themselves and my dad has promised to have a look. I'm optimistic that there will be something, although I'm not sure what they will be like. I'm going to see them, not this weekend but the one after, so it might be possible to listen to some of it then.