Time traveling

Behold: my latest 10-second AI video (above) brought to life from a still photograph (below).

The photo was taken on the final night of a 1989 Bermuda cruise. Ben was six, Stuart was three. Both were decked out in their finest attire for the Captain’s farewell gala. What you don't see in the picture is that they had spent the previous six days waging full-scale maritime warfare over who owned the rights to the top bunk in our stateroom.

Neither wanted to pose for the picture. They fidgeted, squirmed, and generally behaved like they would rather be anywhere else — preferably below deck, one claiming the top bunk as the other wailed, “It’s my turn tonight!” 

We were running late — dinner was about to begin. Finally I had to order them to stop moving and hold hands—something typical brothers treat as a high-risk activity. The fear of cooties (or whatever contagion they were convinced would result) was real, but they did what I asked and somehow survived long enough for the shutter to click.

I’d give anything to go back in time to that evening — the boys in their Sunday best, a warm breeze fluttering the collar of Stuart’s sailor suit, the sun sinking over the Atlantic. It was a moment that felt ordinary at the time but, thirty-seven years and many miles later, is enshrined in my memory as one of the best moments of my life.

Thanks to the (questionable) miracles of AI, I can. 

But only for ten seconds.

Still, I’ll take it.