8-9-10. August 9th, 2010. My life changed forever. Michelle Grace Moyer was born. Her initials are MGM and her sign is Leo which is cool because the mascot for MGM studios is Leo the Lion. Her birth was announced on Dan Gross’ entertainment column in The Philadelphia Daily News.
Before she was born, I made a promise to myself that I would make a video of every day of her life. As a filmmaker, I have no excuse. So far, nearly five years later, I have kept my word and have over one hundred gigabytes of footage. I know Michelle may never get the chance to see every single day's video, but they are there for her, stored in dated folders. Maybe she will want to watch the day she came home from the hospital as a newborn. Or her first birthday and Christmas. Or videos of herself with relatives who are no longer with us.
I've worked very hard since she was born, sometimes juggling two jobs along with other projects like movie scripts and writing this book. There never seemed to be enough time in the day and I probably suffered from exhaustion, but everything I did was for her. No matter how difficult or odd the job was, I made sure my family was well taken care of.
This may have affected the momentum I had with my writing and directing, but now that things have settled down and Michelle is getting older, I’m determined to get it back. Michelle has inspired me in ways I can’t put into words and I can’t imagine what I’d be doing right now if she hadn’t come into my life.
To get these daily videos for Michelle, I had to be behind the camera. I will be the voice she always hears but never sees, so these pages are for her. There will come a day when I am gone, and while there may not be much video footage of me to look at, she will always be able to pick up this book and know that I am smiling down at her. I love you Michelle Grace Moyer.
