The year is 1981 and the Lo family are spending a summer afternoon picking vegetables and fruits from their backyard. One of the twins, Lorna helps their father harvest cabbage while the other twin, Vivian keeps Aylwin – the youngest and only a year old accompanied on a blanket. Featured through out the clip is the one outdoor activity that remained a family tradition over the year, picking apples from the beloved Crab Apple tree.
Their extended family are visiting from Macau for their first Winter visit. For many of them it was the first time experiencing the Canadian cold. “I remember we were outside playing in the snow for a really long time… the adults were playing in it just as much as the kids”, Lorna recalls. The children can be seen playing on the swing bundled up in coats and snow pants.
During this Christmas, the family have their cousin Sau Fong visiting. The children are waving excitedly to the camera as they open and show their gifts. Over the years, uncles and aunts would occasionally stay with the Lo family while studying English at the local college. Home movies were one of the ways they stayed connected to relatives in Macau and shared their life living in Canada. Copies were routinely made to send back.
Lorna “… remembers filming that specific clip’—the video of the twins giving a home tour of their new home. The camera would routinely come out during gatherings, a feature in the background of their lives, but this was the one home movie Lorna remembers the most. She remembers seeing the house and thinking “A room dedicated for toys, that was unheard of. I thought it was the greatest thing.” Moving into this home marked a new chapter in the Lo’s family history.
