65 years ago this morning, a sleepy 12-year-old Reed stumbled into the living room and found a large box under the tree, containing a Kodak Brownie movie outfit. Unquestionably the best gift of my life up until then.... But not the camera and projector. These are just things. The reality is that this gift opened a new world to me. It meant I could finally move away from flip books and storyboards and start making actual movies. I never looked back.
This Christmas morning, I saw only a cold, gray, mostly empty living room. No parents sleepily sipping coffee in robes watching contentedly. No Burl Ives on the stereo. No brightly colored Christmas lights. No presents under the tree. No tree. No family. Only a distant memory of running across my childhood living room carpet, spotting that big red box lit by Christmas tree lights, and the feeling I recalled when I first tore the wrapping paper back and saw a gift my parents chose to give me. It was the gift that would change everything from that instant on.
It's not the things. The true gifts are our memories; the true currency of a lifetime. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.
